Replacing nonrenewable polymers with renewable ones is desirable for packaging applications. For this purpose, a number of poly(glucaramides) were synthesized and tested for applications requiring water resistance. The polymers were prepared from the polycondensation of esterified glucaric acid and a diamine, the former being obtained from the oxidation of glucose, thus providing a renewable so...

This paper compares the effective thermal resistance of 5 wall assemblies incorporating vacuum insulation panels (VIP) encased in extruded polystyrene (XPS), known as composite panels, through three different evaluation methods. The methods consisted of using steady-state and in-situ experimental testing as well as computer simulation. The computer modelling of the wall assemblies used simplifi...

Composite materials by definition are a combination of two or more materials. Although the idea of combining two or more components to produce materials with controlled properties has been known and used from time immemorial, modern composites were developed only several decades ago and have found by now intensive application in different fields of engineering (Vasiliev&Morozov, 2001). These ma...

This paper presents several advancements in the use of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) materials for the precast concrete industry. Precast concrete members are commonly selected for reasons such as the high level of quality control used in their production, the durability of the finished structure, reduced labor costs and shorter construction schedules, and the economics of scale achieved with ...

Room temperature cure epoxy resin has been doped with SiC nanoparticles through an ultrasonic cavitation process. The modified resin was then utilized in a Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM) process with satin weave carbon fibers to manufacture nanophased composite panels. The nanoparticles were spherical in shape and about 29 nm in diameter. The loading of nanoparticles into the re...

Despite significant advancements in bio-based natural-fiber-reinforced composites, the recyclability/reprocessing of thermoset composites remains a persistent challenge that needs to be addressed. In present study, an effort is made provide justification for assessment sandwich composite panels with ‘recyclate’ (i.e., recycled flax/bio-based epoxy composite) cores and (flax/bio-based epoxy) ski...

Interior noise and sonic fatigue are important issues in the development and design of advanced subsonic and supersonic aircraft. Conventional aircraft typically employ passive treatments, such as constrained layer damping and acoustic absorption materials, to reduce the structural response and resulting acoustic levels in the aircraft interior. These techniques require signi cant addition of m...

This paper describes the design of a test rig to apply a representative pressure load to full-scale composite sandwich secondary aircraft structure. A generic panel was designed with features to represent those in composite sandwich secondary aircraft structure. To provide full-field strain data from the panels, the test rig was designed for use with optical measurement techniques such as therm...