9 - The effects of surface treatment on creep and dynamic mechanical behavior of flax fiber reinforced composites under hygrothermal aging conditions

Abstract

The application of natural FRPs (Fiber Reinforced Polymers) is being targeted in various fields due to both environmental and economic benefits. FFRPs (Flax Fiber Reinforced Polymers) is one of the major natural FRPs. The durability and long-term performance of FFRP have been proved a key to its practical engineering application. Some experimental studies have been carried out to investigate the creep and dynamic mechanical properties of FFRP. However, less efforts have been made to improve its creep and dynamic mechanical performance in so far. In this chapter, the effect of surface treatment (including alkalization, silanization, acetylation and alkali-silanization) on the creep and dynamic mechanical behavior of FFRP under hygrothermal aging conditions was studied. The results showed that moisture content of FFRP was reduced after surface treatment and improved creep and dynamic performance can be obtained. A fractional-order creep model was established to predict the creep behavior of the considered materials, and the results showed that fractional calculus is a powerful tool to characterize the creep behaviors of FFRP accurately with fewer parameters than the traditional creep model.