Dynamic Mechanical Analysis of Thermally Aged Fique Fabric-Reinforced Epoxy Composites.

Michelle Oliveira,Fernanda Da Luz,Sergio Monteiro,Henry Lopera,Fabio Da Costa Garcia Filho,Vinícius De Oliveira Aguiar,Artur Pereira

doi:10.3390/polym13224037

Michelle Oliveira, Fernanda Da Luz + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13224037

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Abstract

Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) is one of the most common methods employed to study a material’s viscoelastic properties. The effect of thermal aging on plain epoxy and a fique fabric-reinforced epoxy composite was investigated by comparing the mass loss, morphologies, and DMA properties of aged and unaged samples. In fact, thermal aging presents a big challenge for the high-temperature applications of natural fiber composites. In this work, both plain epoxy and fique fabric-reinforced epoxy composite were found to have different molecular mobility. This leads to distinct transition regions, with different changes in intensity caused by external loadings from time-aging. Three exponentially modified Gauss distribution functions (EMGs) were applied to loss factor curves of fique fabric-reinforced epoxy composite and plain epoxy, which allowed identifying three possible mobility ranges. From these results it was proposed that the thermal degradation behavior of natural fibers, especially fique fiber and their composites, might be assessed, based on their structural characteristics and mechanical properties.

Highlights

One of the most common methods used to measure a material’s viscoelastic properties is the dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA)
The importance of the accelerated aging studies has been recognized as a research method, which serves the purpose of determining the usability conditions and period of a product [25]
The effects of thermal aging on the morphology and thermoviscoelastic-mechanical properties were evaluated at 170 ◦ C for different exposure times

Summary

Introduction

One of the most common methods used to measure a material’s viscoelastic properties is the dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The use of DMA as a characterization technique was applied to investigate mechanical properties of heterogeneous materials [19,20,21,22], spatial distribution of a material’s properties [23], and crack healing [24]. The importance of the accelerated aging studies has been recognized as a research method, which serves the purpose of determining the usability conditions and period of a product [25]. The main reasons for aging in NFRPC are the operating conditions and the usage and storage procedures of these materials. The property changes’ predictions of NFRPC are relevant to the security usage and reliability of the material [26,27]

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