Apparent Interfacial Shear Strength Research Articles

Interfacial shear strength in carbon fiber‐reinforced poly(phthalazinone ether ketone) composites

We studied interfacial shear strength (IFSS) in carbon fiber (CF)‐reinforced poly (phthalazinone ether ketone) (PPEK) composites system, with emphasis on the influence of forming temperature of composite and sizing agent on CFs. To obtain apparent IFSS of CF‐reinforced PPEK composites shaped at various forming temperatures ranged from 20 up to 370°C, microbond test was carried out at single‐fiber composites. Results of microbond test showed that apparent IFSS was directly proportional to the difference between the matrix solidification temperature (forming temperature) and the test temperature and approximately 80% of the apparent IFSS in CF/PPEK composite system was attributed to residual radial compressive stress at the fiber/matrix interface. By sizing CF with sizing agent, the wettability of the fiber by the matrix was improved and the final apparent IFSS was also improved. POLYM. COMPOS., 34:1921–1926, 2013. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers

Determination of interfacial mechanical properties of ceramic composites by the compression of micro-pillar test specimens

A novel method to determine the fiber-matrix interfacial properties of ceramic matrix composites is proposed and evaluated; where micro-pillar samples containing inclined fiber/matrix interfaces were prepared from a SiC fiber-reinforced SiC matrix composites and then compression-tested using the nano-indentation technique. This new test method employs a simple geometry and mitigates the uncertainties associated with complex stress state in the conventional single-filament push-out method or tensile unloading–reloading hysteresis loop analysis method for the determination of interfacial properties. Based on the test results using samples with different interface orientations, the interfacial debond shear strength and the internal friction coefficient are explicitly determined and compared with values obtained by other test methods. SEM observation showed that micro compression caused an adhesive type of debonding between the fiber and the pyrolytic carbon interface. The results suggest that the debonding/failure behavior of the micro-pillars followed the Coulomb fracture criterion. The determined interfacial debond shear strength is ~100 MPa, which appears to be smaller than that determined from fiber push-out test for similar composite systems. The difference can be explained by the effect of normal stress (clamping stress) on the apparent interfacial debond shear strength.

Exploring durability of interfaces in flax fibre/epoxy micro-composites

The influence of wet aging on the behaviour of flax/epoxy micro-composites composed of single flax fibres embedded in epoxy micro-droplets has been studied. Interfacial shear strength has been examined by debonding the micro-droplets. The apparent interfacial shear strength decreases with immersion time in water, dropping rapidly during the first 15min of immersion then stabilizing. Drying samples after short immersion periods allows recovery of properties, indicating a plasticization mechanism. For longer immersion times irreversible degradation is observed. Scanning electron microscopy reveals fibre surface peeling, indicating that an internal interface within the fibre is weaker than the fibre/matrix interface after aging. A simple descriptive model has been used to identify diffusion kinetics, with a critical diffusion time corresponding to a change in degradation mechanism.

Effects of the Longitudinal Surface Roughness on Fiber Pull-Out Behavior in Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Epoxy Resin Composites

Surface modifications are known as efficient technologies for advanced carbon fibers to achieve significant improvement of interface adhesion in composites, one of which is to increase the surface roughness in the fiber's longitudinal direction in practice. As a result, many microridges and grooves are produced on carbon fiber's surfaces. How does the surface roughness influence the carbon fiber's pull-out behavior? Are there any restrictions on the relation between the aspect ratio and surface roughness of fibers in order to obtain an optimal interface? Considering the real morphology on carbon fiber's surface, i.e., longitudinal roughness, an improved shear-lag theoretical model is developed in this paper in order to investigate the interface characteristics and fiber pull-out for carbon fiber-reinforced thermosetting epoxy resin (brittle) composites. Closed-form solutions to the carbon fiber stress are obtained as well as the analytical load-displacement relation during pullout, and the apparent interfacial shear strength (IFSS). It is found that the interfacial adhesion and the apparent IFSS are effectively strengthened and improved due to the surface roughness of carbon fibers. Under a given tensile load, an increasing roughness will result in a decreasing fiber stress in the debonded zone and a decreasing debonded length. Furthermore, it is interesting to find that, for a determined surface roughness, an optimal aspect ratio, about 30∼45, of carbon fibers exists, at which the apparent IFSS could achieve the maximum. Comparison to the existing experiments shows that the theoretical model is feasible and reasonable to predict the experimental results, and the theoretical results should have an instructive significance for practical designs of carbon/epoxy composites.

Improving the interfacial properties between flax fibres and PLLA by a water fibre treatment and drying cycle

This paper describes an analysis of the parameters that influence the adherence properties between flax fibres and PLLA. Microdroplet debonding tests have been used, together with Atomic Force and Scanning Electron Microscopy. The apparent interfacial shear strength of flax/PLLA is significantly higher than that of glass/PP and similar to that of glass/unsaturated polyester. Comparison of results for glass fibres and flax with and without release agent indicate a large contribution of thermal residual stresses to interface properties. The multi-layer nature of vegetal fibres affects debonding mechanisms and partial peeling of the fibre is noted. The cohesion of the fibre cell-wall must therefore also be considered.A water treatment of flax fibres (72h at 23°C) is shown to result in a small drop in tensile properties but a significant increase in interfacial shear strength and friction stress. Drying for 14h at 105°C reduces fibre Young's modulus and failure strength and also reduces fibre/matrix adhesion by 20%. More extensive fibre peeling is observed after drying, indicating that drying affects fibre wall cohesion.

A comparative study of fibre/matrix interface in glass fibre reinforced polyvinylidene fluoride composites

Due to the extreme chemical inertness and high thermal stability, fibre reinforced polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composites have great potential for pipelines and vessels applications. In this study, surface properties of three differently sized glass fibres as well as a highly non-reactive thermoplastic PVDF and PVDF modified by maleic anhydride grafted PVDF (MAH-g-PVDF) 5ppm have been studied. A Wilhelmy method was used to characterise wettability of glass fibre and matrices, and estimate surface free energy and fibre diameter. In order to understand acidic/basic surface functionalities and the effect of dissociated functional groups on glass fibre surfaces, zeta-potential plateau values and the position of isoelectric points were recorded by zeta-potential measurements. The results of water contact angles and zeta-potentials for MAH-g-PVDF indicated that the concentration of the dissociated acid groups in the matrix bulk was increased by grafting maleic anhydride, but remained roughly constant on the surface.A single fibre pull-out technique was used for interfacial adhesion measurements. The results obtained for MAH-g-PVDF revealed the increased apparent interfacial shear strength by 135% and 75% for the acidic and basic surface fibre, respectively. No changes in interfacial shear strength in case of neutral surface glass fibre were observed. Therefore, better mechanical properties of composites can be achieved by improved interactions between acidic/basic surface glass fibre and MAH-g-PVDF matrix.

Synergy of matrix and fibre modification on adhesion between carbon fibres and poly(vinylidene fluoride)

Interfacial properties between carbon fibres and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) were tuned by modifying both constituents. Atmospheric plasma fluorination (APF) was utilised to tailor the surface composition of carbon fibres, which resulted in an incorporation of up to 3.7 at.% of fluorine functionalities in to the fibre surfaces. The PVDF matrix was modified by blending pure PVDF with maleic anhydride (MAH) grafted PVDF. Both fibre and matrix modifications act in synergy with improvements of up to 50% in the apparent interfacial shear strength (IFSS) above the level of pure fibre or matrix modification. Modification of both constituents led to the formation of various interactions at the fibre/matrix interface namely dispersive and polar (H-bonds) between (modified) PVDF and the fluorine as well as oxygen functionalities on the fibre surfaces. The apparent IFSS between the modified fibres and matrix reaches a maximum of 42 MPa, which is almost the tensile strength of the pure PVDF. The improvements in apparent IFSS in single fibre model composites for both fibre and matrix modifications translated to a seven times improvement in the interlaminar shear strength of unidirectional composites.

Interactions at fiber/matrix interface in short fiber reinforced amorphous thermoplastic composites modified with micro- and nano-fillers

This study aims at systematically extracting fiber/matrix interfacial strength in short-glass fiber-reinforced polymer composites using an experimental micromechanics approach which employs mechanical properties and residual fiber length distributions to derive the apparent interfacial shear strength. We started from neat high-impact polystyrene matrix short-glass fiber-reinforced composites (HIPS/GF) with varying fiber loading and proceeded toward HIPS/GF hybrid composites containing micro- and nano-fillers where complex fiber/matrix interfacial interactions exist. It was found that apparent interfacial shear strength does not vary with fiber content, while the presence of fillers with different length-scales alters fiber/matrix interactions depending on their influence on physical properties of the polymer matrix, particularly in the vicinity of reinforcing fiber surfaces.

The influence of thermo-oxidative degradation on the measured interface strength of glass fibre-polypropylene

It has previously been found that thermal-oxidative degradation of the matrix can strongly affect the apparent interfacial shear strength (IFSS) in glass fibre-polypropylene (GF–PP) measured using the microbond method. In this work, different approaches were employed to further investigate this phenomenon. Hot-stage microscopy was used to establish a profile for dimensional loss of molten PP microdroplets during heat treatment. Under a given thermal load this reduction was found to be related to the initial droplet dimensions. A nanoindentation test was employed to directly probe the mechanical properties of the PP microdroplets, which also exhibited strong dimensional dependence in terms of property deterioration caused by the degradation. Characterisation of thermal mechanical properties and crystallinity was carried out on macroscopic PP samples to assist in elucidating how the polymer degradation affected the measured IFSS. Comparison of the degraded and non-degraded PP microbond samples for IFSS clearly showed the effect of thermal-oxidative degradation on adhesion.

Carbon nanotube grafted carbon fibres: A study of wetting and fibre fragmentation

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were grafted on IM7 carbon fibres using a chemical vapour deposition method. The overall grafting process resulted in a threefold increase of the BET surface area compared to the original primary carbon fibres (0.57 m 2/g). At the same time, there was a degradation of fibre tensile strength by around 15% (depending on gauge length), due to the dissolution of iron catalyst into the carbon; the modulus was not significantly affected. The wetting behaviour between fibres and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) was directly quantified using contact angle measurements for drop-on-fibre systems and indicated good wettability. Single fibre fragmentation tests were conducted on hierarchical fibre/PMMA model composites, demonstrating a significant (26%) improvement of the apparent interfacial shear strength (IFSS) over the baseline composites. The result is associated with improved stress transfer between the carbon fibres and surrounding matrix, through the grafted CNT layer. The improved IFSS was found to correlate directly with a reduced contact angle between fibre and matrix.

The Effect of Surface Modification on the Interfacial Feature of Polystyrene Composite Filled with Carbon Fiber

The quality of interfacial interaction is dictated by the surface chemistry of the carbon fibers and the composition of the matrix. The composition of polystyrene was modified by the addition of maleic anhydride-grafted polystyrene (MAH-g-polystyrene). The surface properties of various matrix formulations were characterized by contact angle measurements. Carbon fibers were modified by nitric acid oxidation. The surface composition of the carbon fibers was characterized. The interaction between modified polystyrene and the carbon fibers was studied by single-fiber pull-out tests. The best adhesion behavior was achieved between polystyrene-containing grafted MAH and nitric acid-oxidized carbon fibers. The addition of MAH-g-polystyrene to the unmodified polystyrene caused the interfacial shear strength to increase. The apparent interfacial shear strength of this fiber-matrix combination allowed for the utilization of 100% of the yield tensile strength of polystyrene.

Continuum Micro-mechanics of Estimating Interfacial Shear Strength in Short Fiber Composites

A new continuum approach to micro-mechanics of short fiber composites yielded two separate methods of estimating the apparent interfacial shear strength and fiber orientation efficiency. The methods exploit the compilation of the effects of fiber length distribution and interfacial shear strength on strengthening efficiency into a function of strain. The In-Built Method derives a unique combination of apparent interfacial shear strength and fiber orientation efficiency being able to reproduce the experimental stress–strain curve of a short fiber reinforced composite with a very low residual standard deviation. The Boundary Method accomplishes rapid interfacial shear strength screening in materials selection by constructing and utilizing the proposed selection chart.

A Numerical Simulation of Time-Dependent Interface Failure Under Shear and Compressive Loads in Single-Fiber Composites

We performed a numerical simulation of a time-dependent interfacial failure accompanied by a fiber failure, and examined their evolution under shear and compressive loads in single-fiber composites. The compressive load on the interface consists of Poisson’s contraction for matrix resin subjected to longitudinal tensile load. As time progresses, compressive stress at the interface in the fiber radial direction relaxes under the constant longitudinal tensile strain condition for the specimen, directly causing the relaxation of the interface frictional stress. This relaxation facilitates the failure of the interface. In this analysis, a specific criterion for interface failure is applied; apparent interfacial shear strength is enhanced by compressive stress, which is referred as quasi-parabolic criterion in the present study. The results of the stress recovery profile around the fiber failure and the interfacial debonding length as a function of time simulated by the finite element analysis employing the criterion are very similar to experimental results obtained using micro-Raman spectroscopy.

Carbon nanotube grafted silica fibres: Characterising the interface at the single fibre level

Model polymer composites containing carbon nanotube (CNT) grafted fibres provide a means to investigate the influence of nanostructures on interfacial properties. Well-aligned nanotubes, with controllable length, were grown on silica fibres by using the injection chemical vapour deposition method, leading to a significant increase of the fibre surface area. In single fibre tensile tests, this CNT growth reaction reduced the fibre strength, apparently due to catalyst etching; however, the fibre modulus increased significantly. Contact angle measurements, using the drop-on-fibre method, indicated an excellent wettability of the CNT-grafted fibres by poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). PMMA model composites were fabricated and studied using the single fibre fragmentation tests. A dramatic improvement (up to 150%) of the apparent interfacial shear strength (IFSS) was obtained for the composites containing CNT-grafted fibres. The improvement of IFSS was also influenced by the length and morphology of the grafted CNTs.

Nanoclay assisted strengthening of the fiber/matrix interface in functionally filled polyamide 6 composites

This study describes the contribution of a nano-filler, i.e. an organically modified layered silicate, in respect of the fiber/matrix interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of a short glass fiber reinforced and functionally filled polyamide 6, given an exfoliated nanocomposite morphology. Apparent IFSS values are determined using a continuum micromechanical method. Polymer chains in the nanoconfined environment of an exfoliated clay nanocomposite are found to crystallize preferentially in the form of a specific crystalline phase with increased degree of crystallinity. Strong dependence of IFSS on polymer crystallinity is found which is related to enhanced shrinkage stresses associated with increased degree of crystallinity.

The Effect of Maleic Anhydride Graft on the Interfacial Adhesion of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Polystyrene Composite

The quality of interfacial interaction is dictated by the surface chemistry of the carbon fibers and the composition of the matrix. The composition of polystyrene was modified by the addition of maleic anhydride (MAH)-grafted polystyrene (MAH-g-polystyrene). The surface properties of the various matrix formulations were characterized by contact angle. Carbon fibers were modified by oxidation in nitric acid. The surface composition of the carbon fibers was characterized. The interaction between modified polystyrene and the carbon fibers was studied by single fiber pull-out tests. The best adhesion behavior was achieved between polystyrene containing grafted MAH and nitric acid oxidation carbon fibers. The addition of MAH-g-polystyrene to the unmodified polystyrene caused the interfacial shear strength to increase. The apparent interfacial shear strength of this fiber-matrix combination allowed for the utilization of 100% of the yield tensile strength of polystyrene.

The Effect of Nitric Acid Oxidization Treatment on the Interface of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Polystyrene Composite

The quality of interfacial interaction is dictated by the surface chemistry of the carbon fibers and the composition of the matrix. The composition of polystyrene was modified by the addition of maleic anhydride (MAH) grafted polystyrene. The surface properties of the various matrix formulations were characterised by contact angle. Carbon fibers were modified by oxidation in nitric acid. The surface composition of the carbon fibers was characterized. The interaction between modified polystyrene and the carbon fibers was studied by single fiber pull-out tests. The best adhesion behavior was achieved between polystyrene containing grafted MAH and nitric acid oxidation carbon fibers. The addition of MAH-grafted polystyrene to the unmodified polystyrene caused the interfacial shear strength to increase. The apparent interfacial shear strength of this fiber-matrix combination allowed for the utilisation of 100% of the yield tensile strength of polystyrene.

Interfacial strength in short glass fiber reinforced acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene/polyamide 6 blends

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to derive the apparent interfacial shear strength of short glass fiber reinforced acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene/polyamide 6 (PA6) blends with different PA6 contents. Tensile stress‐strain curves and fiber length distributions are utilized within a continuum micromechanics approach which involves a unified parameter for fiber length distribution efficiency represented as a function of strain. The unique combination of predicted micromechanical parameters is capable of accurately reproducing the mechanical response of the composite to applied strain. In this way, the influence of PA6 on interfacial zone is revealed by outcomes of the predictive method and validated by scanning electron microscopy observations. Favored intermolecular interactions in presence of PA6 chains result in the formation of a PA6 sheathing layer on glass fiber surfaces which in turn causes a drop in the apparent interfacial shear strength. The reason behind is shown to be the shift of the fracture zone from fiber/matrix interface to sheathing layer/matrixinterphase. POLYM. COMPOS., 2010. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers

The influence of fibre length, diameter and concentration on the strength and strain to failure of glass fibre-reinforced polyamide 6,6

Abstract Results of an investigation of the mechanical performance of injection moulded long glass fibre-reinforced polyamide 6,6 composites are presented. The glass fibre content in these composites was varied over the range 10–50% by weight using fibres with average diameters of 10, 14, and 17 μm. Mechanical testing and analysis of the apparent interfacial shear strength was carried out at 23 and 150 °C on dry-as-moulded and boiling water conditioned samples. The results from these composites are compared with standard extrusion compounded short glass fibre materials. The influence of fibre diameter and concentration on the residual fibre length, fibre orientation distribution and composite strength and elongation to failure is presented and discussed in comparison to the predictions of some of the available micromechanical models.

Carbon fibre reinforced poly(vinylidene fluoride): Impact of matrix modification on fibre/polymer adhesion

The quality of interfacial interaction is dictated by the surface chemistry of the carbon fibres and the composition of the matrix. The composition of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) was modified by the addition of maleic anhydride grafted PVDF. The surface properties of the various matrix formulations were characterised by contact angle and electrokinetic measurements. Carbon fibres were modified by industrial electrochemical oxidation and oxidation in nitric acid, or the use of a traditional epoxy-sizing of industrially oxidised fibres. The surface composition, morphology and wetting behaviour of the carbon fibres was characterised. The interaction between modified PVDF and the carbon fibres was studied by direct contact angle measurements between PVDF melt on single carbon fibres and by single fibre pull-out tests. The best wetting and adhesion behaviour was achieved between PVDF containing 5 ppm grafted maleic anhydride (MAH) and epoxy-sized carbon fibres. The addition of MAH-grafted PVDF to the unmodified PVDF caused the apparent interfacial shear strength to increase by 184%. The apparent interfacial shear strength of this fibre–matrix combination allowed for the utilisation of 100% of the yield tensile strength of PVDF.