Wood-filled thermoplastic composites

Different physical properties of wood-filled thermoplastic materials produced by a special mixing and extrusion process are examined. The results show that the wood content and the kind of plastics are the main parameters that control the physical properties of composites. In general, wood-filled thermoplastic materials exhibit mechanical properties comparable to those of customary wood fiber products, i.e., medium density fiberboard (MDF); however, they show distinctly better behavior than the MDF and natural wood after exposure to moisture.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Universität Kassel, Institut für Werkstofftechnik, Kunstoff-und Recyclingtechnik, Mönchebergstraße 3, 34109 Kassel, Germany. Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 795–802, November–December, 1998.     

Flexible composites, strength, deformation, and fracture processes. 1. Reinforcement structures and tensile strength

Fiber-reinforced flexible composites are extensively used for different kinds of applications, for example, tubes, drive belts, tires, and coated fabrics. Typical for these materials are matrix materials allowing large strain deformation and reinforcement structures allowing bending. Apart from the tensile strength and limited bending stiffness, damage resistance and ductile-brittle transition characteristics are discussed. The tensile strength usually follows the rule of mixture. The mode of fracture and damage resistance, however, strongly depend on penetration of the matrix into the fiber bundles, textile structure, and internal friction. Models for the work of fracture and the ductile-to-brittle fracture transition are discussed.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 747–760, November–December, 1998.     

Influence of ultradisperse additives on interaction of incompatible polymers

The influence of ultradisperse additives of -sialon and molybdenum disulfide on the interfacial boundary conditions of nitrile rubber containing 17–20% of acrylonitrile (SKN-18) and ultrahigh molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is studied. The additives were introduced into the nonpolar UHMWPE, and then the modified composition was introduced into a crude rubber stock based on SKN-18. X-ray diffractometry, electron microscopy, and dynamic testing methods were used for studying the phase and supramolecular structure of the composition. A complex of physical and mechanical tests including the study of the wear and oil and cold resistance characteristics of the elastomeric compositions were carried out. It is shown that the use of ultradisperse additives allows us to improve the interaction at the SKN-18/UHMWPE interface and the operating properties of the materials.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Institute of Nonmetal Materials, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, Russia. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 803–810, 1998.     

Regulation of the mechanical properties of thermoplastic carbon fiber-reinforced plastics by changing their production conditions and surface treatment of the fibers

The effect of technological parameters of processing and surface treatment of carbon fibers on the mechanical properties of carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRPs) was investigated. The copolymer of 1,3,5-trioxane with 1,3-dioxolane was used as the polymer matrix, and medium-modulus hydrated cellulose Ural LO-24 carbon fibers served as the reinforcing filler. The polymer matrix was mixed with the carbon fibers by the method of combined extrusion. The dependence of the mechanical properties of CFRPs on the technological parameters of screw-disk extrusion was studied. It was found that the properties of the composites were greatly affected by the size of the working disk gap, the disk rotation rate, and the temperature in the zone of normal stresses. The surface of the carbon fibers was activated with atmospheric oxygen in the temperature range of 450–600°C, with mass loss of the fibers no greater than 3–4%. A 30–40% increase in the mechanical properties of the CFRPs was achieved. A decrease in the melt index of the 1,3,5-trioxane copolymer with 1,3-dioxolane reinforced with oxidized carbon fibers was observed, which should be taken into account in processing the composites into products. Introduction of carbon fibers in the 1,3,5-trioxane copolymer with 1,3-dioxolane allows us to increase the wear resistance and decrease the friction coefficient, which makes it possibile to use these materials in the friction units of machines and mechanisms, such as plain bearings, gears, and flange packings.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Ukrainian State University of Chemical Technology, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 5, pp. 673–682, September–October, 1998.     

Creep prediction of a layered fiberglass plastic

The results of short-term creep tests of a layered glass fiber/polyester resin plastic in tension at angles of 90, 70, and 45° to the direction of the principal fiber orientation are presented. The applicability of the principle of time-temperature analogy for the prediction of long-term creep of the composite and its structural components is revealed. The possibility of evaluating the viscoelastic properties of the composite from the properties of structural components is shown.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 295–306, May–June, 1998.     

Concentration of electroelastic fields in a composite piezoceramic plate with defects crossing the interface

The characteristics of fracture and strength of a composite piezoceramic plate with defects in the form of cracks and holes situated in both of the plate components are investigated. The corresponding boundary-value problems of electroelasticity are reduced to systems of singular integral equations by constructing integral representations of the complex potentials. The results of numerical realization of the constructed algorithms are reported.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 777–786, November–December, 1998.     

Moisture and low temperature impact on the properties of a polyether glass-reinforced plastic

The cyclic action of water and the combined action of water and low temperatures on the physical-mechanical properties of a polyether glass-reinforced plastic are studied. For experimental investigations, methods of sorption, thermogravimetry, and mechanical testing in static bending were used. It was found that the most aggressive external factor for the glass-reinforced plastic was the cyclic action of water, but not the change in its phase state at cooling. The process of sorption-desorption of the glass-reinforced plastic is irreversible.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Institute of Non-Metallic Materials, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, Russia. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 519–524, July–August, 1998.     

Optimization of cylindrical composite shells with regard to their critical mode of imperfections

This study deals with the optimum design of composite shells under external pressure with material strength and loss of stability according to the critical mode of imperfections taken as the failure criterion. The problem of optimum design is solved and the critical mode is obtained by nonlinear optimum programming for which the geometric and initial imperfection parameters are treated as variables. Numerical results are obtained for a cylindrical composite shell supported freely at its ends. The effect of shear forces between layers on the load-carrying capacity of the shell is also investigated.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 5, pp. 613–620, September–October, 1998.     

Numerical identification of properties of particle-reinforced composite materials

The paper deals with numerical identification of the average elastic properties of particle-reinforced composite materials. The finite element method for the determination of deformation energy of the characteristic volume element was used. In earlier analytical investigations, an approximation function of the averaged elastic properties of the composite was derived. An identification procedure allows the estimation of the unknown approximation parameters from numerical experiments. The obtained functions describe precisely the numerical data for any relationships between constituents of the material.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Institute of Computer Analysis of Structures, Riga Technical University, Riga PDP-1658, Latvia. Institute of Materials Science, Department of Materials Science, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, D-06099 Halle, Germany. Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 383–390, May–June, 1998.     

Creep and damage accumulation in orthotropic composites under cyclic loading

Experimental results and theoretical prediction of the response of glassfiber-reinforced polyester under quasi-static, static (creep), and cyclic (fatigue) loading are presented. The nonlinear strain component at static loading and the strain amplitude rate at cyclic off-axis loading of an orthotropic composite are shown to follow the associated flow rule with a single-parameter quadratic potential function. The influence of fatigue damage on deformation is considerable due to the reduction in the elastic modulus of the composite and is apparently negligible with respect to its effect on the parameters of the creep kernel.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 447–460, July–August, 1998.     

Torsion of laminated cylindrical shells with adhesive interlayers

Based on refined equations of the Timoshenko-type shell theory, the contact stresses in torsion of a two-layer cylindrical shell with an adhesive interlayer are numerically studied. The effect of the geometric and physical-mechanical parameters of the load-carrying layers and adhesive interlayer of the shell on the distribution of the interlaminar tangential stress is analyzed. The results are presented graphically.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Pidstryhach Institute of Applied Problems of Mechanics and Mathematics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Lviv, Ukraine. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 501–506, July–August, 1998.     

Scale effect of Young's modulus of highly oriented polymers

The scale effect of the acoustic Young's modulus E of oriented polymer fibers has been experimentally revealed. If the fiber length L is smaller than its critical value L₀, the modulus decreases proportionally to the logarithm of the fiber length. An increasing temperature causes a proportional increase in the slope dE/d(In L). The scale effect is explained by the influence of the specimen volume on the probability of initiation of intense thermal fluctuations, which cause a decline in the Young's modulus.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 839–846, November–December, 1998.     

Morphology of fractured polymer surfaces self-bonded below the glass transition temperature

Previosly noncontact surfaces of polystyrene (PS) and poly(2,6-dimethyl 1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) were self-bonded in a lap shear joint geometry below the glass transition temperature T_g The joints were then fractured in tension at room temperature and the contact area was analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy. Zones of plastic deformation were revealed on the surfaces of PS and PPO which had been bonded at T_g–33 and T_g–70°C, respectively, thus indicating interdiffusion across the interface. This result points to the lower T_g of the surface layer as compared with that of the bulk sample, in agreement with our previous studies. The unusually high self-bonding ability of PPO (at very low temperatures related to the bulk T_g) is presumably due to the low depth of penetration required to establish entanglements.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 5, pp. 665–672, September–October, 1998.     

Structural approach to calculation of the effect of moisture on elastic characteristics of organoplastics

Data have been obtained for the structural calculation of the effect of moisture on the elastic characteristics of organoplastics from the properties of components. The distribution of moisture between the fiber and matrix — the components of a unidirectional composite — is considered. The elastic properties of the fiber are determined by an inverse calculation using the experimental dependences of the composite and matrix on moisture. The moisture effect on the properties of the materials is taken into account with influence functions, which differ by more than 25% for various characteristics. The results can be used for calculating the elastic properties of composites with various reinforcement schemes and at the nonequilibrium distribution of the moisture concentration in an actual environment.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Institute of Polymer Mechanics, Riga, LV-1006, Latvia. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 525–530, July–August, 1998.     

Structure analysis, fatigue testing, and lifetime prediction of composite steels

Composite steels prepared by technology of powder metallurgy are widely used as low cost parts with good resistance to wear, fracture, and corrosion. The development of powder composite steels is directly related to strength under vibration, fatigue stabilizing, and accurate lifetime prediction for actual composite topology. The fatigue behavior of powder steels was studied by experimental and numerical methods of composite mechanics and materials sciences. The chemical composition of composite steel is a pure iron powder as the base material and a handful of carbon, chromium, nickel, or phosphorus powders. The powder multi-component mixture is compacted by cold isostatic pressing to a rectangular form. The compactants are sintered in protective atmosphere. The microscale examination of the composite structure included an METAM-RV-21 metallographic optic microscope with a high-resolution ScanNexIIc scanner and an image processing package on the PC platform. The phase composition of powder steels has complex disordered topology with irregular ferrite/austenite grains, iron carbide inclusions, and pores. The microstructure images are treated according to the theory of stochastic processes as ergodic probability functions; statistical moments and a structural covariance function of the composite steels are given. The microscale stress-strain state of the composite steel is analyzed by finite element methods. The stiffness matrix of the composite steel is also presented together with stiffness matrices of ferrite/austenite grains, iron carbide inclusions, and pores as zero matrices. Endurance limits of the microstructural components are described by the Basquin or Coffin-Manson laws, respectively, as high and low cycle fatigue; cumulative microdamage in loading with a variable amplitude is taken from the Palmgren-Miner rule. Planar specimens were tested by console bending. Symmetric fatigue cycling was performed at a stable frequency of 20 Hz with endurance limits up to 5·10⁶ cycles. The probabilistic S-N curves were studied for various types of the composite steels. The fatigue properties of the structural components such as ferrite/austenite grains and carbide particles were defined by the microscale stress-strain modeling. Structural impact on the fatigue lifetime was computed; the probabilistic fatigue curves of the composite steels of various phase compositions are given. The prediction of cyclic lifetime and fatigue testing show good agreement for the powder composite steels studied.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Perm' State Technical University, Russia. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 371–382, May–June, 1998.     

Theories for laminated and sandwich plates

The growing use of sandwich and laminated plates requires a theoretically based prediction of the mechanical behavior of structural elements of such type. Starting with the pioneering studies of Reissner, a great number of theories for the engineering calculations have been developed. The review deals with the classification of the theories and discusses some of them in detail.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Martin Luther Universität, Halle-Wittenberg, Fachbereich Werkstoffwissenschaften, D-06099 Halle, Germany. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 333–348, 1998.     

Experimental study of fracture toughness and energy in composite materials

The paper presents an experimental investigation of fracture characteristics of composite materials. The post-peak response of the load-crack opening displacement of notched specimens is used to evaluate the fracture energy associated with progressive matrix damage and crack growth. Effects of fiber orientation and other geometric characteristics on fracture parameters are studied. The load versus crack opening displacement as well as crack length, fracture toughness, and energy versus the number of loading cycles are obtained for different specimens. Based on the experimental results of this study, concepts of the fracture mechanics are applied to evaluate the evolution of fracture toughness and energy.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R3T 2N2. Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 323–332, May–June, 1998.     

“Fundamental” and “practical” adhesion in polymer-fiber systems

The relationship between adhesion and bond strength in thin fiber-polymer matrix systems was studied. Adhesive interaction in composite materials was analyzed within the scope of thermodynamic and molecular-kinetic theories of adhesion. Methods based on wetting are shown to give poor estimation of the work of adhesion in fiber-polymer systems, which is due to their low sensibility to donor-acceptor interactions taking place at the interface. Important information about the acidity and basicity of contacting surfaces can be obtained by using inverse gas chromatography to investigate the thermodynamics of adsorption. The calculation of the work of adhesion including acid-base interactions shows the best agreement with the bond strength in the same systems. The local (ultimate) interfacial shear strength is proposed to characterize the quality of fiber-matrix bonding. Analysis of the relationship between the work of adhesion and adhesive pressure for various systems allowed us to differentiate the dispersive and acid-base components of the local bond strength as well as to estimate distances characteristic of these twoTypes of interaction. For dispersive forces, our estimation gives 7–8Å, i.e., of an order of magnitude of the center-to-center distance for van der Waals interactions. At the same time, the acid-baseInteractions have a characteristic range of 4–5Å and can be attributed to hydrogen bonding. The agreement between the calculated distances and literature data is evidence for the applicability of the proposed method to the analysis of the adhesive interaction in fibrous polymer composites.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 431–446, July–August, 1998.     

Effect of side branches on the properties of cross-linked polyurethanes

Two series of samples of cross-linked polyurethanes: based on diethylene glycol and polypropylene glycol having calculated M_c 1000, were investigated. In synthesis by partial substitution of glycols by fatty acid ester and triethanolamine, long side branches were created in the structure of the polymer. The effect of the mass concentration of these branches on the physicomechanical properties of polyurethanes was evaluated. The different character of the effect of these branches on the properties of two types of polyurethane was demonstrated.Submitted to the Xth International Conference on Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry. Riga, LV-1006 Latvia. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, No. 6, pp. 840–844. November–December. 1997.     

Statically equivalent solutions for assessment of refined plate theories

The Pagano exact solution for an infinite plate on a simple support is extended in such a way that artitrary boundary conditions can be prescribed. Based on Bufler's approach, the solution is obtained with a modified Fourier transformation that leads to a set of ordinary inhomogeneous differential equations. It can be shown that the Pagano solution is included as a special case of periodic boundary conditions, whereas the effect of nonperiodic boundary conditions is represented by particular terms. Statically equivalent solutions for the assessment of refined plate theories are derived, and the difference between simply supported and periodic boundary conditions is discussed.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Germany. Institut für Werkstoffwissenschaften, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 461–476, July–August, 1998.