Abstract
Polymer composites containing natural fibers are receiving growing attention as possible alternatives for composites containing synthetic fibers. The use of biodegradable matrices obtained from renewable sources in replacement for synthetic ones is also increasing. However, only limited information is available about the creep behavior of the obtained composites. In this work, the tensile creep behavior of PLA based composites, containing flax and jute twill weave woven fabrics, produced through compression molding, was investigated. Tensile creep tests were performed at different temperatures (i.e., 40 and 60 °C). The results showed that the creep behavior of the composites is strongly influenced by the temperature and the woven fabrics used. As preliminary characterization, quasi-static tensile tests and dynamic mechanical tests were carried out on the composites. Furthermore, fabrics (both flax and jute) were tested as received by means of quasi-static tests and creep tests to evaluate the influence of fabrics mechanical behavior on the mechanical response of the resulting composites. The morphological analysis of the fracture surface of the tensile samples showed the better fiber-matrix adhesion between PLA and jute fabric.
Highlights
In the last decades, lignocellulosic fibers have been receiving growing attention both from the academia and the industry, as possible substitutes of synthetic fibers as reinforcement for polymer-based composite materials
Aim of the present paper is to evaluate the viscoelastic response of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) reinforced with natural woven fabrics, focusing on the effect of temperature and fabric used as reinforcement
The presence of the flax fabric leads to a significant increase of the tensile strength, while the jute fabric fails in imparting noteworthy improvements
Summary
Lignocellulosic fibers have been receiving growing attention both from the academia and the industry, as possible substitutes of synthetic fibers as reinforcement for polymer-based composite materials. The short-time creep behavior of composites based on a biodegradable polymer matrix (i.e., a blend of poly(butylene adipate-terephthalate) (PBAT) copolyester and PLA) reinforced with three different wood fiber types (at 20 and 30 wt %) were studied in tensile and single cantilever mode [35]. Some research activities were addressed to the modification of the PLA matrix to enhance the fiber-matrix compatibility, leading to an increase in the creep resistance of the resulting composites In this context, a positive effect of fiber surface treatments (i.e., by means of silane coupling agent and polyvinyl alcohol) on the flexural creep properties of jute reinforced PLA composites was found by Takemura et al [36]. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to investigate the fracture surface morphologies of the tensile samples in order to deepen the investigation on fiber-matrix adhesion
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