Paper number 1075

TENSILE DAMAGE IN QUATERNARY MELAMINE-FORMALDEHYDE COMPOSITES

P.-O. Hagstrand¹, and P. Acuna²

1Department of Polymeric Materials, Chalmers University of Technology
SE-412 96, Göteborg, Sweden
2Visiting student from University of Oviedo, Spain in the
Department of Polymeric Materials, Chalmers University of Technology
SE-412 96, Göteborg, Sweden

Summary

A planar random fibre composite (PRFC) based on a recent moulding compound developed by Perstorp AB (Sweden) and DSM (The Netherlands) is studied. The basic material is called Reinforced Melamine Compound (RMC) and consists of a melamine-formaldehyde (MF) matrix filled with alumina trihydrate (ATH) and reinforced with 50 mm long glass fibres. Damage mechanisms are studied in tension by means of in-situ scanning electron microscopy. Damage is evaluated by means of stiffness reduction during cyclic straining. The damage rate can be considerably reduced by partly replacing ATH with cellulose for grades where high fire resistance is less important. The main reason this takes place is that due to the strong adhesion, cellulose fibres do not debond from the matrix. ATH particles (mainly larger ones) on the other hand, frequently debond causing stiffness reduction and facilitating crack travel.

Keywords

melamine-formaldehyde, cellulose, cyclic loading, damage, in-situ SEM.