Paper number 910

INTERFACES IN FLAX FIBRE-POLYMER COMPOSITES

Artemis Stamboulis¹, Caroline Baillie¹, Maria Piacesi², E. Schulz³

1Department of Materials, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BP, U.K.
2Centre for Composite Materials, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BY, U.K.
3Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Unter den Eichen 87, D-12200 Berlin, Germany

Summary

This paper aims to study the interface of flax fibre reinforced composites based on different matrices (thermoplastic or thermosetting) according to the Kelly-Tyson model using the pull-out test. Pull-out tests of two types of single flax fibres: untreated Green and treated Duralin embedded in different polymer matrices: unsaturated polyester, epoxy and low density polyethylene were carried out. Higher interfacial shear stresses were observed for the single fibre composites with Green flax whereas Duralin-epoxy composites exhibited the highest interfacial shear stress. The inhomogeneity of the structure in lignocellulose fibres makes the interpretation of pull-out tests difficult. Results suggested that the interfaces within the treated and untreated flax fibres are weaker compared to the interface between the fibre and the matrix itself.

Keywords

natural fibres, polymer composites, interface, interfacial shear strength, pull-out tests, micromechanical analysis.