Glass Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene Mechanical Properties Enhancement by Adhesion Improvement

Abstract

Glass fibers (GF) are the reinforcement agent most used in polypropylene (PP) based composites, as they have good balance between properties and costs. However, their final properties are mainly determined by the strength and stability of the polymer-fiber interphase. Fibers do not act as an effective reinforcing material when the adhesion is weak. Also, the adhesion between phases can be easily degraded in aggressive environmental conditions such as high temperatures and/or elevated moisture, and by the stress fields to which the material may be exposed. Many efforts have been done to improve polymer-glass fiber adhesion by compatibility enhancement. The most used techniques include modifications in glass surface, polymer matrix and/or both. However, the results obtained do not show a good costs/properties improvement relationship. The aim of this work is to perform an accurate analysis regarding methods for GF/PP adhesion improvement and to propose a new route based on PP in-situ polymerization onto fibers. This route involves the modification of fibers with an aluminum alkyl and hydroxy-α-olefin and from there to enable the growth of the PP chains using direct metallocenic copolymerization. The adhesion improvements were further proved by fragmentation test, as well as by mechanical properties measurements. The strength and toughness increases three times and the interfacial strength duplicates in PP/GF composites prepared with in-situ polymerized fibers.

Thermal Aging of Unsaturated Polyester Composite Reinforced with E-Glass Nonwoven Mat

“…For the fabrication of GFRP, 5% MEKP were added to each 100 gm of polyester resin at room temperature. The polyester resin used in this experiment has the density of 1.35 g/cm 3 , and the composite were fabricated by using 60% polyester resin with 40% glass nonwoven mat. The properties of the used E-glass fiber are shown in Table 1.…”

“…Owing to suitable compositions and orientation of fibers, desired properties and functional characteristics of GFRP composites were equal to those of steel, their stiffness was higher than that of aluminum, and their specific gravity was one quarter of the steel. The various glass fiber (GF) reinforcements such as long longitudinal, woven mat, chopped fiber (distinct), and chopped mat in the composites have been produced to enhance the mechanical and tribological properties of the composites [2][3]. GF-reinforced unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) composite materials have become the alternatives of conventional structural materials, such as wood and steel, in some applications, because of its good mechanical properties.…”

Active Millimeter-Wave Radiometry for Nondestructive Testing/Evaluation of Composites—Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer

“…If the medium was lossy, the propagation constant would be      . The permittivity of medium 1 and medium 2 are 1  and 2  , respectively, while the permeability, 0  of both the mediums is 1. When a wave travelling through medium 1 is incident at the boundary of the medium 2, part of the wave is transmitted while some part is reflected.…”

Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Scaffolding Biomaterials for Regenerative Therapies

“…However, this strategy is not completely optimal, and the probability of crack initiation-propagation may be high due to these numerous interfaces. This may result in an ultimate depreciation of the mechanical properties [115,128]. To avoid this and also a possible phase segregation [129], polymer/inorganic nanofiller compatibility is often improved by modifying the surface with organic molecules or surfactants [130,131].…”