Wood powder polypropylene composites (WPC) have been produced with 40wt% of a soft or a hard wood as filler. The die drawing process developed at the University of Leeds [1] has been used to produce oriented composites. Aspect ratios (Ar) for both wood powders were calculated by using a Sysmex image analyser. Prediction of the Young’s modulus of the oriented WCP was calculated using the Cox-Kre...

The prospect of extending existing metal-ceramic composites to those with the compositions that are far from thermodynamic equilibrium is examined. A current and pressure-assisted, rapid infiltration is proposed to fabricate composites, consisting of reactive metallic and ceramic phases with controlled microstructure and tunable properties. An aluminum (Al) alloy/Ti2AlC composite is selected as...

Maize stalk fibres can be used as fillers in natural rubber composites replacing expensive and non-biodegradable inorganic fillers. Maize stalk fibres were chemically modified with acetic anhydride (acetylation) to enhance their compatibility with the hydrophobic rubber polymer matrix. The fibre was characterised using FTIR showing a spectrum with a well defined peak at 1742 cm -1 (attributed t...

Different types of iron oxides deposits have been identified along the Khaf – Dorouneh volcanic and plutonic belt in north east of Iran. Kuh-e-Zar is one of these ore deposits known as Fe- oxide gold deposit. The main purpose of this paper is to detect and discriminate the iron oxide minerals in this area based on the ETM+ data. Data processing has been done by ENVI (Environment for Visualizing...

Conventional fiber reinforced plastics (FRP’s) have long been important if not indispensable in many crucial applications such as transportation, renewable energy, defense applications, as well as many others. Composite materials are of interest to these industries due to their attractive properties including high strength to weight ratio and high modulus to weight ratio. Comprehensive research...

A novel class of polymers called "slide-ring" (SR) materials with slideable junctions were used for high damping composites for the first time. The SR acts as the high damping phase dispersed in the natural rubber (NR) matrix, and epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) acts as the compatibilizer. The morphological, structural, and mechanical properties of the composites were investigated by atomic for...

A new severe plastic deformation (SPD) based technique entitled Accumulative channel-die compression bonding (ACCB) is proposed for the fabrication of high strength multi-layered Al/Cu composites for the first time. In order to primarily demonstrate the capabilities of ACCB in the fabrication of metal matrix composites (MMCs), AA 1050 and pure Cu strips were processed. The primary Al/Cu sandwic...

Dielectric constant and morphology of BaTiO3-polymer composite films were studied as a function of the filler concentration. The morphology of the films was examined using laser scanning confocal microscopy, which is capable to measure small particle distributions in more details than conventional microscopy. The thin-slice images allowed us to visualize the micronsize particles and the polymer...