Abstract
Nowadays, there is a growing interest for the use and development of materials synthesized from renewable sources in the polymer composites manufacturing industry; this applies for both matrix and reinforcement components. In the present research, a novel basalt fibre reinforced (BFR) bioepoxy green composite is proposed as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional petroleum-derived composites. In addition, this material system was combined with cork as core material for the fabrication of fibre composite sandwich structures. Mechanical properties of both skin and core materials were assessed through flexural and tensile tests. Finite element (FEM) simulations for the mechanical stress analysis of the sandwich material were carried out, and a maximum allowable shear stress for material failure under bending loads was established. Permeability measurements of the basalt fabrics were carried out in order to perform numerical simulations of liquid composite moulding (LCM) processes on the PAM-RTM software. The proposed green-composite sandwich material was used for the fabrication of a longboard as a case study for a sports equipment application. Numerical simulations of the mould filling stage allowed the determination of an optimal mould filling strategy. Finally, the load-bearing capacity of the board was studied by means of FEM simulations, and the presented design proved to be acceptable for service.
Highlights
Nowadays, there is a growing need for the production and development of materials synthesized from renewable sources and to decrease the world’s dependence on petroleum
In the fiber reinforced polymer composites (FRPCs) manufacturing industry, these tendencies have recently led to the investigation of possible substitutes, both for matrix and reinforcement components
One of the main drawbacks of using plant oil as a precursor for bio-based resins is that its chemistry can lead to a low crosslink density network which produces a polymer with low glass transition temperature, poor stiffness, and inferior thermophysical properties, compared to the traditional petroleumbased polymers
Summary
There is a growing need for the production and development of materials synthesized from renewable sources and to decrease the world’s dependence on petroleum. Biobased matrix materials have received considerable attention mainly for being nonpetroleum-dependent These systems can be obtained from sustainable sources such as vegetable oil, cellulose, and soy protein, among others. One of the main drawbacks of using plant oil as a precursor for bio-based resins is that its chemistry can lead to a low crosslink density network which produces a polymer with low glass transition temperature (lower than 90∘C), poor stiffness (lower than 2 GPa), and inferior thermophysical properties, compared to the traditional petroleumbased polymers This same feature can lead to a superior toughness by providing additional deformation mechanisms for energy absorption before failure in impact loading situations [2]. A compromise solution can be the combination of both synthetic and bio-based materials [3, 4] in such a way that a superior material is obtained from a cost-performance standpoint
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