The aim of this work is to evaluate the influence of fabrication methods on the com-pressive properties of sandwich composites using both experimental work and numerical simulations. Two types of sandwich composites with E-glass/Kevlar/polyester resin facings and End-grain balsa wood as core have been produced by vacuum infusion processing (VIP) and hand-lay up (HL) method. Compression tests on...

This overview of durability in composite wood products will discuss the history and background of increasing the durability of wood composites. Some of the current challenges will be presented. Processing for durable composites will include post-manufacture treatments and in-process treatments. New composites and novel approaches and treatments for durability will be discussed.

The present study aims to develop zirconia-Silica sand nanoparticles composites through powder processing route and to study the physical properties, mechanical properties and microstructure of the composites. Zirconia based silica sand nanoparticles composite with 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt.% were developed through powder processing technique and sintered at 1500°C for two hours. A decreasing trend o...

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), a class of renewable bionanomaterials with excellent mechanical properties, have gained major interest as filler for polymers. However, challenges associated with effective CNC dispersion have hindered the production of composites with desired property enhancements. Here, composites of polypropylene (PP) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) with 5e10 wt% unmodified...

This critical review provides a processing-structure-property perspective on recent advances in cellulose nanoparticles and composites produced from them. It summarizes cellulose nanoparticles in terms of particle morphology, crystal structure, and properties. Also described are the self-assembly and rheological properties of cellulose nanoparticle suspensions. The methodology of composite proc...

We show that the thermal and electrical properties of single wall carbon nanotube ~CNT!-polymer composites are significantly enhanced by magnetic alignment during processing. The electrical transport properties of the composites are mainly governed by the hopping conduction with localization lengths comparable to bundle diameters. The bundling of nanotubes during the composite processing is an ...

Engineering of advanced hybrid composites wherein aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are integrated into polymer matrices of existing fibrous materials is growing in research labs around the world. Real concerns exist about possible exposures of researchers and laboratory personnel to CNTs, fibers (respirable and nanoscale) and nanoparticles during handling of nanomaterials, as well as during synt...

The orthogonal design method was used to determine the optimum conditions for modifying poplar fibers through a high temperature and pressurized steam treatment for the subsequent preparation of wood fiber/high-density polyethylene (HDPE) composites. The extreme difference, variance, and significance analyses were performed to reveal the effect of the modification parameters on the mechanical p...

The creation of highly oriented, co-extruded polypropylene (PP) tapes allows the production of recyclable ‘all-polypropylene’ composites, with a large temperature processing window (O30 8C) and a high volume fraction of highly oriented PP (O90%). These composites show little deviation of mechanical properties with compaction temperature. This paper introduces all-polypropylene composites and re...