Search results

This study examines how different stacking sequences of bamboo and flax fibers, treated with 5% aqueous sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and filled with 6wt% titanium oxide (TiO₂), affect the physical, mechanical and dry sliding wear resistance properties of a hybrid composite.

Composites with different fiber stacking arrangements were developed and tested per American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards to evaluate physical, mechanical and wear resistance properties, focusing on the impact of flax fiber mats at intermediate and outer layers.

The hybrid composite significantly outperformed composites reinforced solely with bamboo fibers, showing a 65.95% increase in tensile strength, a 53.29% boost in flexural strength and a 91.01% improvement in impact strength. The configuration with multiple layers of flax fiber mat at intermediate and outer levels also demonstrated superior wear resistance.

This study highlights the critical role of stacking order in optimizing the mechanical properties and wear resistance of hybrid composites. The findings provide valuable insights for the design and application of advanced composite materials, particularly in industries requiring high performance and durability.

The purpose of this study is to improve the mechanical properties, thermal insulation properties and flame retardant properties of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the organic montmorillonite (OMMT)/SiO₂ aerogel/PET composites and fibers were prepared, and the effects of the OMMT/SiO₂ aerogel on the structure, thermal conductivity and flame retardance of the OMMT/SiO₂ aerogel/PET composites and their fibers were systematically investigated.

The OMMT/SiO₂ aerogel/PET composites and fibers were prepared by in-situ polymerization and melt spinning using SiO₂ aerogel as thermal insulation filler and OMMT (DK2) as comodified filler.

The experimental results showed that OMMT improved the crystallization properties of PET. Compared with the crystallinity of SiO₂ aerogel/PET composites (34.8%), SiO₂ aerogel/PET composites and their fibers reached 45.1% and 49.2%, respectively. The breaking strength of the OMMT/SiO₂ aerogel/PET composite fibers were gradually increased with the OMMT content. When the content of OMMT was 0.8 wt.%, the fracture strength of the composite fibers reached 4.40 cN/dtex, which was 54% higher than that of the SiO₂ aerogel/PET fiber. In addition, the thermal insulation properties of the composites and their fibers were improved by addition of fillers, and at the same time reached the flame retardant level. The thermal conductivity of the 0.8 wt.% OMMT/SiO₂ aerogel/PET composites was 101.78 mW/(m·K), which was 49.3% and 58.8% lower than that of the SiO₂ aerogel/PET composites and the pure PET, respectively. The thermal conductivity of the fiber fabrics woven from the 0.8 wt.% OMMT/SiO₂ aerogel/PET composites was 28.18 mW/(m·K), which was 29.0% and 44.6% lower than that of the SiO₂ aerogel/PET composite fiber fabrics and PET fiber fabrics. The flame retardancy of the composites was improved, with an limiting oxygen index value of 29.2% for the 0.8 wt.% OMMT/SiO₂ aerogel/PET composites, which was 4.1% higher compared to the SiO₂ aerogel/PET composites, and achieved the flame retardant level.

The SiO₂ aerogel/PET composites and their fibers have good mechanical properties, flame retardant properties and thermal insulation properties, exhibited good potential for application in the field of thermal insulation, such as warm clothing. Nowadays, as the energy crisis is becoming more and more serious, it is very important to improve the thermal insulation properties of PET to reduce energy losses and mitigate the energy crisis.

In this study, PET based composites and their fibers with excellent mechanical properties, thermal insulation properties and flame retardant property were obtained by using three-dimensional network porous silica aerogel with low density and low thermal conductivity as the thermal insulation functional filler and two-dimensional layered OMMT as the synergetic modified filler.

This study aims to evaluate the low energy impact characteristics of 3D printed carbon fiber thermoplastic and thermoset polymer composite using the Izod impact test. The effects of infill density are examined on the Izod impact properties of 3D printed thermoset polymer and thermoplastic composite specimens. Furthermore, a thorough investigation is conducted into the effect of heat treatment using a hot-air oven on both types of 3D printed composite specimens. To characterize the impact characteristics of each specimen, the fracture surfaces caused by impact load are inspected, and the fracture mechanism is studied using scanning electron micrographs.

Izod Impact specimens of thermoset (epoxy resin) and thermoplastic carbon fiber of different infill density (70, 75, 80, 85, 90 and 100%) are fabricated using the different fiber impregnation 3D printing process. To carry out the heat treatment process, printing of composites is done for each infill design from both thermoset and thermoplastic composites and the impact characteristics of specimens are evaluated on a pendulum test-rig using the ASTM D-256 standard. Using a scanning electron microscope, each fracture zone underwent four separate scanning processes, ranging in size from 2 µm to 100 µm.

The impact resistance of the 3D printed thermoset and thermoplastic composite material is significantly influenced by the type of fiber placement and infill density in the matrix substrate. Because of the weak interfacial strength between the layers of fiber and polyamide 6, the specimen printed with continuous fiber implanted at the part exhibited reduced impact resistance. At 75% infill density, the impact specimen printed with coextruded fiber showed the highest impact resistance with a 367.02% greater magnitude than the continuous fiber specimen with the same infill density.

This work presents a novel approach to analyze the low energy impact characteristics and three-dimensional printing of carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic and carbon fiber reinforced thermoset and thermoplastic composite material.

Wool fiber is accepted as one of the natural and renewable sources and has been used in the apparel and textile industry since ancient times. However, wool fiber has the highest global warming potential value among conventional fibres due to its high land use and high methane gas generation. This study aimed to recycle the wool fabric wastes and also to create a mini eco-collection by using the produced yarns.

This manuscript aimed to evaluate the fabric wastes of a woolen fabric producer company. Fabric wastes were opened with two different opening systems and fiber properties were determined. First, conventional ring yarns were produced in the company’s own spinning mill by mixing the opened fibres with the long fiber wastes of the company. In addition, opening wastes were mixed with different fibres (polyester, long wool waste, and Tencel fibres) between 25% and 70% in the short-staple yarn spinning mill and used in the production of conventional ring and OE-rotor yarns. Most of the yarns contained waste fibres at 50%. Recycled and virgin yarns were used as a weft and warp yarn and a total of 270 woven fabric samples were obtained and fabric properties were examined. Also, a fabric collection was created. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was made for one of the selected yarns.

At the end of the study, it was determined that it was possible to produce yarn and fabric samples from fiber blends containing high waste fiber ratios beyond 50%. All the woven fabric samples produced from conventional ring and OE-rotor yarns gave higher breaking, tearing and stitch slip strength values in the weft and warp direction than limit quality values of the company. In addition, abrasion resistance and WIRA steam stability properties of the fabric samples were also sufficient. Environmental analysis of the recycling of the wastes showed a possible decrease of about 9940034.3 kg CO2e per year in the global warming potential. In addition, fiber raw material expenses reduced yarn production cost about 50% in case of opened fabric waste usage. However, due to insufficient pilling resistance results, it was decided to evaluate the woven fabrics for the product groups such as shawls and blankets, where pilling resistance is less sought.

The original aspects of the article can be summarized under two headings. First, there are limited studies on the evaluation of wool wastes compared to cotton and polyester fibres and the number of samples examined was limited. However, this study was quite comprehensive in terms of opening type (rag and tearing), spinning systems (long and short spinning processes), fiber blends (waste 100% and blends with polyester, long wool waste and Tencel fibres) and yarn counts (coarser and finer). Recycled and virgin yarns were used as a weft and warp yarn and a total of 270 woven fabric samples were obtained using different colour combinations and weave types. All processes from fabric waste to product production were followed and evaluated. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and cost analysis was also done. The second unique aspect is that the problem of a real wool company was handled by taking the waste of the woolen company and a collection was created for the customer group of the company. Production was made under real production conditions. Therefore, this study will provide important findings to the research field about recycling, sustainability etc.

Through the tracer fiber method, we strive to more accurately obtain the hook degree, straightening degree, percentage and other characteristic indexes. In order to intuitively represent the hook state from sliver to yarn, and feed back production information in combination with quality test.

Taking the cotton fiber as an example, the hooked fibers were studied by using the tracer fiber method. Tracer fibers were made from cotton-type viscose fibers. Tracer fibers and combed cotton fibers were uniformly mixed for many times and used to produce the card sliver, semi-drawn sliver, drawn sliver, roving and yarn. With the help of ZF-20D ultraviolet analyzer, geometric parameters of hooked fibers were measured, and characterization indexes were calculated. And hook indexes and quality indexes were compared.

By redefining and reclassifying hooked fibers, the change of hooked fibers in the process was tracked and characterized carefully. Some hooks in card sliver are straightened but not eliminated, and will form longer zero-angled hooks in the subsequent process. The straightening degree and number of zero-angled hooks affect the evenness CV mainly.

The characterization of hooked fibers is important for reducing hooked fibers and spinning high quality yarns. There is no uniform standard for the characterization of hooked fibers at present. Most studies are about relationship between process and hook in carding and drawing. There is no research on hooked fibers in the whole spinning process. In the paper, hooked fibers were redefined and reclassified, the change of hooked fibers in the process was tracked and characterized carefully.

The purpose of this research is to ascertain the feasibility of fabricating polymer optical fibers (POFs) based textile structures by knitting with Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) based optical fibers for textile sensor application. It has long been established that by using the principles of physics, POFs have the capability to function as sensors, detecting strain, temperature and other variables. However, POF applications such as strain and pressure sensing using knitting techniques has since not been very successful due to a number of reasons. Commercially available PMMA-based optical fibers tend to be fragile and susceptible to breakages when subjected to stress during the knitting processes. Also light transmitted within these fibers is prone to leakage due to the curvature that results when optical fibers are interlaced or interlooped within fabric structures.

Using Stoll’s multi-gauge CMS 350 HP knitting machine, five fabric structures namely, 1 × 4 float knit structure, tunnel inlay knit structure, 3:1 fleece fabric and 2:1 fleece fabric structure respectively were used to knit sensor samples. The samples were subsequently tested for length of illumination and sensitivity relative to applied pressure.

The results of this preliminary study establish that embedding plastic optical fibers into a knitted structure during the fabric formation process for soft strain sensor application possible. The best illumination performance was recorded for tunnel inlay structure which had an average of 94 cm course length of POF being illuminated. Sensor sensitivity experiments also establish that the relative spectral intensity of the fiber is sensitive to both light and pressure. Problems encountered and recommendations for further research have also been discussed and proffered.

Due to resource limitations, an innovative technique (use of precision weight set) was used to apply pressure to the sensors. Consequently, information regarding the extent of corresponding sensor deformation has not been used in this initial analysis.

Because the fundamental step toward finding a solution to any engineering problem is the acquisition of reliable data, and considering the fact that most of the popular technologies used for soft textile sensors are still bedeviled with the problem of signal instability and noise, the success of this application thus has the tendency to promote the wide spread adoption of POF sensors for smart apparel applications.

As far as research on soft strain sensors is concerned, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to have attempted to knit deformable sensors using commercially available POFs.

This paper aims to reduce waste management and generate wealth by investigating the novelty of combining chicken feather fiber and bamboo particles to produce hybrid biocomposites. This is part of responsible production and sustainability techniques for sustainable development goals. This study aims to broaden animal and plant fiber utilization in the sustainable production of epoxy resins for engineering applications.

This research used two reinforcing materials [chicken feather fiber (CFF) and bamboo particles (BP)] to reinforce epoxy resin. The BPs were kept constant at 6 Wt.%, while the CFF was varied within 3–15 Wt.% in the composites to make CFF-BP polymer-reinforced composite (CFF-BP PRC). The mechanical experiment showed a 21% reduction in densities, making the CFF-BP PRC an excellent choice for lightweight applications.

It was discovered that fabricated composites with 10 mm CFF length had improved properties compared with the 15 mm CFF length and pristine samples, which confirmed that short fibers are better at enhancing randomly dispersed fibers in the epoxy matrix. However, the ballistic properties of both samples matched. There is a 40% increase in tensile strength and a 54% increase in flexural strength of the CFF-BP PRC compared to the pristine sample.

According to the literature review, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is a novel study of chicken fiber and bamboo particles in reinforcing epoxy composite.

The purpose of this review paper is to provide a review of the most recent advances in the field of manufacturing composite sandwich panels along with their advantages and limitations. The other purpose of this paper is to familiarize the researchers with the available developments in manufacturing sandwich structures.

The most recent research articles in the field of manufacturing various composite sandwich structures were reviewed. The review process started by categorizing the available sandwich manufacturing techniques into nine main categories according to the method of production and the equipment used. The review is followed by outlining some automatic production concepts toward composite sandwich automated manufacturing. A brief summary of the sandwich manufacturing techniques is given at the end of this article, with recommendations for future work.

It has been found that several composite sandwich manufacturing techniques were proposed in the literature. The diversity of the manufacturing techniques arises from the variety of the materials as well as the configurations of the final product. Additive manufacturing techniques represent the most recent trend in composite sandwich manufacturing.

This work is valuable for all researchers in the field of composite sandwich structures to keep up with the most recent advancements in this field. Furthermore, this review paper can be considered as a guideline for researchers who are intended to perform further research on composite sandwich structures.

This paper aims to report the effect of titanium oxide (TiO₂) particles on the specific wear rate (SWR) of alkaline treated bamboo and flax fiber-reinforced composites (FRCs) under dry sliding condition by using a robust statistical method.

In this research, the epoxy/bamboo and epoxy/flax composites filled with 0–8 Wt.% TiO₂ particles have been fabricated using simple hand layup techniques, and wear testing of the composite was done in accordance with the ASTM G99-05 standard. The Taguchi design of experiments (DOE) was used to conduct a statistical analysis of experimental wear results. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to identify significant control factors affecting SWR under dry sliding conditions. Taguchi prediction model is also developed to verify the correlation between the test parameters and performance output.

The research study reveals that TiO₂ filler particles in the epoxy/bamboo and epoxy/flax composite will improve the tribological properties of the developed composites. Statistical analysis of SWR concludes that normal load is the most influencing factor, followed by sliding distance, Wt.% TiO2 filler and sliding velocity. ANOVA concludes that normal load has the maximum effect of 31.92% and 35.77% and Wt.% of TiO2 filler has the effect of 17.33% and 16.98%, respectively, on the SWR of bamboo and flax FRCs. A fairly good agreement between the Taguchi predictive model and experimental results is obtained.

This research paper attempts to include both TiO₂ filler and bamboo/flax fibers to develop a novel hybrid composite material. TiO₂ micro and nanoparticles are promising filler materials, it helps to enhance the mechanical and tribological properties of the epoxy composites. Taguchi DOE and ANOVA used for statistical analysis serve as guidelines for academicians and practitioners on how to best optimize the control variable with particular reference to natural FRCs.

The current study aims to develop a 3D-printed continuous metal fiber-reinforced recycled thermoplastic composite using an in-nozzle impregnation technique.

Recycled acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (RABS) plastic was blended with virgin ABS (VABS) plastic in a ratio of 60:40 weight proportion to develop a 3D printing filament that was used as a matrix material, while post-used continuous brass wire (CBW) was used as a reinforcement. 3D printing was done by using a self-customized print head to fabricate the flexural, compression and interlaminar shear stress (ILSS) test samples to evaluate the bending, compressive and ILSS properties of the build samples and compared with VABS and RABS-B samples. Moreover, the physical properties of the samples were also analyzed.

Upon three-point bend, compression and ILSS testing, it was found that RABS-B/CBW composite 3D printed with 0.7 mm layer width exhibited a notable improvement in maximum flexural load (L_max), flexural stress at maximum load (sf_max), flex modulus (E_f) and work of fracture (WOF), compression modulus (E_c) and ILSS properties by 30.5%, 49.6%, 88.4% 13.8, 21.6% and 30.3% respectively.

Limited research has been conducted on the in-nozzle impregnation technique for 3D printing metal fiber-reinforced recycled thermoplastic composites. Adopting this method holds the potential to create durable and high-strength sustainable composites suitable for engineering applications, thereby diminishing dependence on virgin materials.