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School of Engineering
Advanced Composites Laboratory

Reinforeced Bio-Based Polyurethane Composites

 

Goal

     Enhancement in mechanical properties of reinforced biobased composites by improving fiber/matrix adhesion  

Motivation

     Bio-based composites do not have mechanical properties as good as traditional composites. Therefore, research work should be done to find how these properties could be enhanced.  

About

     Proper fiber/matrix adhesion is important for improved mechanical performance and complete wet-out of fiber/fabric in processing. The soybean-oil-based polyol is modified for improvement in fiber/matrix adhesion. The preliminary studies indicate that there is significant improvement in properties at micro level in coating applications. Aliphatic polyisocyanate is used as curing agent to formulate non-foam thermoset polyurethane resin. This polyurethane resin is used to manufacture woven E-glass composites using vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding. The comparative study between modified and non-modified resins is performed to analyze the effect of improved fiber/matrix adhesion on bulk mechanical properties. TGA and TMA tests are carried to understand thermal stability of composites and glass transition temperature of resins, respectively. Further static tensile and short-beam shear tests are conducted to evaluate tensile strength and modulus, and interlaminar shear strength, respectively. 

Publications

  1. J. S. Tate, J. Massingill, P. Patel, and S. Konga, “Enhancement in mechanical properties by improving fiber/matrix adhesion in bio-based polyurethane/E-glass composites”, International SAMPE Symposium and Exhibition (ISSE 2008), Long Beach, CA, USA, May 18-22, 2008, ID# L079 .
  2. J. S. Tate, J. Massingill, P. Patel, P. Rikka, and S. Arabie, “Mechanical characterization of bio-based polyurethane/e-glass composites”, International SAMPE Fall Technical Conference (ISTC 2007), Cincinnati, OH, USA, October 29 – November 1, 2007, ID# C149.