Flame-retardant Wrapped Ramie Fibers towards Suppressing “Candlewick Effect” of Polypropylene/Ramie Fiber Composites

In this work, a flame-retardant polypropylene(PP)/ramie fiber(RF) composite was prepared. The ramie fibers were wrapped chemically by a phosphorus- and nitrogen-containing flame retardant(FR) produced via in situ condensation reaction so as to suppress their candlewick effect. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM) demonstrated that the ramie fibers wrapped chemically by FR(FR-RF) were obtained successfully. Thermogravimatric test showed that the PP/FR-RF composite had more residue and better thermal stability at high temperatures than the PP/RF composite. Cone calorimeter(CC) results indicated that the peak of heat release rate(PHRR) and total heat release(THR) correspondingly decreased by 23.4% and 12.5% compared with the values of neat PP/RF. The PP/FR-RF composite created a continuous and compact char layer after the combustion. Combining FTIR analysis of char residue after CC test with heat conduction coefficient results, it could be concluded that the charring of FR on RF greatly weakened the candlewick effect of RF, and more char residue in the RF domain facilitated the formation of more continuous and compact char layer in the whole combustion zone, consequently protected PP composites during combustion, resulting in the better flame retardancy of PP/FR-RF composite than that of PP/RF composite.     

Fabrication of microporous membranes from melt extruded polypropylene precursor films via stretching: Effect of annealing

In this work, the effects of annealing conditions on the microstructure of polypropylene(PP) precursor films and further on the porous structure and permeability of stretched membranes were investigated. Combinations of WAXD, FTIR, DSC and DMA results clearly showed the crystalline orientation and crystallinity of the precursor film increased with annealing temperature, while the molecular chain entanglements in the amorphous phase decreased. Changes in the deformation behavior suggested more lamellar separation occurred for the films annealed at higher temperatures. Surface morphologies of the membranes examined by SEM revealed more pore number and uniform porous structure as the annealing temperature increased. In accordance with the SEM results, the permeability of the membranes increased with annealing temperature. On the other hand, it was found that 10 min was almost enough for the annealing process to obtain the microporous membranes with an optimal permeability.     

含铵根离子等规聚丙烯离聚体的合成及性能研究

合成了一系列高分子量、窄分子量分布且高等规度,含有不同―NR_3~+X~-离子基团含量的聚丙烯离聚体(iPP-NR_3~+X~-).以PP/IUD共聚物作为反应中间体,与三乙胺或N-甲基咪唑氨化得到聚丙烯离聚体.通过离子交换反应制备不同反离子的N-甲基咪唑聚丙烯离聚体,包括双三氟甲基磺酰亚胺根离子(Tf_2N~-)、四氟硼酸根离子(BF_4~-)和六氟磷酸根离子(PF_6~-).热重分析结果发现N-甲基咪唑聚丙烯离聚体的热稳定性明显优于三乙胺聚丙烯离聚体,表明不含β-H的N-甲基咪唑聚丙烯离聚体具有较高的热稳定性.同时,聚丙烯离聚体的表面亲水性得到明显改善.并且,聚丙烯离聚体的断裂伸长率也得到显著提高,最高达到900%.比较不同反离子聚丙烯离聚体的屈服强度和断裂强度发现I~-聚丙烯离聚体具有最优的力学性能.     

Nonisothermal crystallization behavior of isotactic polypropylene/ thermoplastic rubber blends

The morphology and crystallization behavior of blends of polypropylene (PP) and an ethylene-based thermoplastic elastomer (TPO) were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The SEM images showed a two-phase morphology for these blends. As TPO was partially crystalline, two distinct peaks were observed in both heating and cooling scans of DSC. The crystallization temperature of TPO in blends was higher than pure TPO. In contrast, the crystallization temperature of PP in blends was lower than pure PP. The crystallization behavior of blends was modeled by Avrami equation. It was observed that the presence of TPO accelerated the growth rate of crystals of PP in PP/TPO blends.     

Stability of Plates Made of Fibrous Composite with Damageable Components

The bifurcation stability problem for rectangular plates made of fibrous composite with damageable matrix is formulated and solved__________Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika,Vol. 41, No. 5, pp. 83–90, May 2005.     

Structure of the constitutive relations for hereditarily elastic materials reinforced by hard fibers

The problem of simplifying the nonlinear hereditary elasticity relations is considered for strongly anisotropic materials such as fiber-reinforced composites. This is done using their property that the material stiffness is high along the reinforcement and is low in the cross-sectional direction. The material is considered transversally isotropic. The simplification is performed by analyzing asymptotic representations of creep relations. Relations of various degrees of accuracy for various types of composites and stress states are obtained. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 120–127, May–June, 2005.     

Technical stability of stationary automatic control systems of variable structure with switched filters

Sufficient conditions for the technical stability in measure of a nonstationary control system with variable structure are established. The controller of the system has feedback-switched filters functioning together with shaper and actuator. It is assumed that the nonstationary parameters of the system vary within given ranges, at a finite rate, with appropriate control laws, with adjustment against mismatch signal, its derivatives of finite order, and all variable parameters of the filter. The parameters of the switching hyperplane remain constant. This approach for analysis of technical stability does not involve sliding mode conditions. Criteria of technical instability in measure for the control system under consideration are formulated using the properties of systems of comparison from below. The general criteria of technical stability and instability are applied to nonstationary filtered-control systems of variable structure of the third order. The comparison method based on normalized Lyapunov functions is used __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 110–127, June 2006.     

Deformation of a fibrous composite with physically nonlinear fibers and microdamageable matrix

The structural theory of short-term microdamage is generalized to a fibrous composite with a microdamageable matrix and physically nonlinear fibers. The basis for the generalization is the stochastic elasticity equations of a fibrous composite with a porous matrix. Microvolumes in the matrix material meet the Huber-Mises failure criterion. The damaged-microvolume balance equation for the matrix is derived. This equation and the equations relating macrostresses and macrostrains of a fibrous composite with porous matrix and physically nonlinear fibers constitute a closed-form system of equations. This system describes the coupled processes of physically nonlinear deformation and microdamage occurring in different components of the composite. Algorithms for computing the microdamage-macrostrain and macrostress-macrostrain relationships are developed. Uniaxial tension curves are plotted for a fibrous composite with linearly hardening fibers __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 38–47, January 2006.     

The influence of KH-550 on properties of ammonium polyphosphate and polypropylene flame retardant composites

Ammonium polyphosphate (APP)/polypropylene (PP) composites were prepared by melt blending and extrusion in a twin-screw extruder. APP was first modified by a silane coupling agent KH-550 then added to polypropylene. The surface modification of APP by the coupling agent decreased its water solubility and its interface compatibility with the PP matrix. Limiting oxygen index (LOI) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to characterize the flame retardant property and the thermal stability of the composites. The addition of APP improved the flame retardancy of PP remarkably. The crystal structures of APP/PP composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results indicated that β-crystal phase PP may be formed. The structures and morphologies of APP, KH-550/APP and APP/PP composites were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The mechanical property tests showed good mechanical properties of composite materials. Compared with unmodified one, the impact strength, tensile strength and elongation of modified APP/PP were all improved.     

An efficiently halogen-free flame-retardant long-glass-fiber-reinforced polypropylene system

In order to solve the “candlewick effect” caused by glass fibers, which results in the decrease of flame retardancy of flame-retardant long-glass-fiber-reinforced polypropylene (LGFPP) systems, and the deterioration of mechanical properties caused by adding an additional amount of flame retardants compared with flame-retardant non-glass-fiber-reinforced polypropylene systems so as to keep a same flame retardancy, a novel intumescent flame retardant (IFR) system, which is composed of a charring agent (CA), ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and organically-modified montmorillonite (OMMT), was used to flame retard LGFPP. The thermal stability, combustion behavior, char formation, flame retardant mechanism and mechanical properties of the IFR-LGFPP samples were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), limiting oxygen index (LOI), UL-94 test, cone calorimeter test, scanning electronic microscopy, and mechanical property tests. When the content of IFR is 20 wt%, the LOI value of IFR-LGFPP reaches 31.3, and the vertical burning test reaches UL-94 V-0 rating, solving the “candlewick effect” caused by long glass fiber without additional amount of the IFR. All the relevant cone calorimeter parameters also show that IFR-LGFPP has much better flame-retardant behaviors than LGFPP. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of IFR-LGFPP almost remain unchanged in comparison with those of LGFPP containing no IFR. The flame retardant mechanism was also discussed.