In this work, polyamide 11 (PA11) and stone ground wood fibres (SGW) were used, as an alternative to non-bio-based polymer matrices and reinforcements, to obtain short fibre reinforced composites. The impact of the reinforcement on the thermal degradation, thermal transitions and microstructure of PA11-based composites were studied. Natural fibres have lower degradation temperatures than PA11, ...

Industrial microwave technology for processing polymers and polymer based composites is currently in a state of considerable flux. This paper extends the applications horizon of microwaves in the area of reinforced thermoplastic composites joining, and places emphasis on the development of equipment and facilities aiming at maximising bond quality. It discusses the microwave facility used, incl...

Many of the advances in material performance over the last decade can be attributed to developments in multicomponent polymer systems and specifically, to multiphase materials such as incompatible polymer blends and fibre-reinforced composites. In these types of material, performance properties are often dominated by the interphase that defines the transition region from one pure phase to anoth...

Polymer composites based on natural fillers are currently attracting great attention as alternative materials to glass or synthetic fibre reinforced plastics in several applications, mostly for automotive, appliance and packaging products. The main advantage of employing natural fibres is that these are biodegradable and renewable, and exhibit low cost, low density and high toughness. However t...

The effect of Kevlar fibre surface modification and hybridization on metal laminates (FMLs) was investigated in this paper. Fibre are interlaced layers thin metals fibre-reinforced plastics that constitute a hybrid composite material. flexural strength composites from the three-point bending test at various ratios sequence FML composites. Glass fibre, aluminum were taken for laminating reinforc...

Hemp fibre mat reinforced polyester composites were fabricated using a conventional sheet moulding compound (SMC) process. The influence of fibre and CaCO3 filler content on strength and stiffness of the HF-SMCs is reported and compared with data for chopped glass fibre reinforced sheet moulding compounds (GF-SMCs). In addition the influence of alkaline and silane treatments of the hemp fibres ...

This paper investigates the grinding performance of epoxy matrix composites reinforced by unidirectional carbon fibres, using an alumina grinding wheel. Emphasis was placed on understanding the effect of fibre orientations and grinding depths on the grinding force and surface integrity, and on understanding the grinding mechanisms, with a comparison to orthogonal cutting. It was found that grea...

Bioresorbable phosphate glass fibre reinforced polyester composites have been investigated as replacement for some traditional metallic orthopaedic implants, such as bone fracture fixation plates. However, composites tested revealed loss of the interfacial integrity after immersion within aqueous media which resulted in rapid loss of mechanical properties. Physical modification of fibres to cha...

There has been significant increase in use of glass fibre reinforced composites as structural materials in naval mine countermeasure surface ships. Sea mines when detonated emit underwater shock waves, which could impart severe loading to naval ship structure; there are attempts to model the response of a ship structure to this loading. For the model to be accurate & useful material property da...

A review is presented on the testing and mechanical properties of continuous fibre reinforced composites modified with nanotubes or nanofibres either dispersed in the resin or grown on the microfibres. The nano-level cross-links are shown to be able to (1) increase the fibre/matrix interfacial strength, (2) reduce the inter-fibre crack growth, and (3) improve the inter-ply delamination resistan...