Mechanical Properties of Phenolic Composites Reinforced with Flax-g-copolymers Prepared under Different Reaction Conditions - A Comparative Study

Susheel Kalia,B S Kaith

doi:10.1155/2008/538397

Abstract

Graft copolymers of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and its binary mixtures such as MMA + ethyl acrylate (EA), MMA + acrylonitrile (AN), MMA + acrylic acid (AA), MMA + vinyl acetate (VA), MMA + acrylamide (AAm) and MMA + styrene (Sty) with flax fiber have been prepared in air (IA) and under the influence of microwave radiations (MWR). Synthesized flax-g-copolymers under two different reaction conditions were used as reinforcing material in the preparation of phenol-formaldehyde composites. Mechanical properties such as wear resistance, modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE) and stress at the limit of proportionality (SP) were measured and a comparative studied has been made. It has been found that composites reinforced with flax-g-copolymers-MWR showed better mechanical properties in comparison to composites reinforced with flax-g-copolymers-IA

Highlights

Natural fibers reinforced composites have received much attention due to their distinct advantages such as renewable source, biodegradability, high filling effect and nonabrasiveness
Particle boards made from pretreated materials showed lower water absorption and lower thickness swelling after soaking in water or after exposure to super-saturated water vapour for ten days than particle boards made from untreated materials
The analysis of tensile, flexural and impact properties of these composites revealed that the optimum length of the type required for banana fiber and glass fiber is different in phenol-formaldehyde resole material

Summary

Introduction

Natural fibers reinforced composites have received much attention due to their distinct advantages such as renewable source, biodegradability, high filling effect and nonabrasiveness. The reinforcement with graft copolymer prepared in air (IA) such as flax-g-poly(MMA); flax-g-poly(MMA/EA); flax-gpoly(MMA/AN); flax-g-poly(MMA/AA); flax-g-poly(MMA/VA); flax-g-poly(MMA/AAm) and flax-g-poly(MMA/Sty) showed 11, 16, 23 and 28 gm/m x 10-4; 16, 28 39 and 49 gm/m x 10-4; 14, 25, 36 and 45 gm/m x 10-4; 13, 19, 28 and 34 gm/m x 10-4; 23, 35, 47 and 59 gm/m x 10-4; 19, 32, 45 and 52 gm/m x 10-4 and 13, 18, 27 and 38 gm/m x 10-4 wear rate at 1, 2, 3 and 4 Kg loads, respectively.

Results

Conclusion