Performance enhancement of nylon/Kevlar fiber composites through viscoelastically generated pre-stress

Fazal, Adnan; Fancey, Kevin S.

Abstract

Kevlar-29 fibers have high strength and stiffness but nylon 6,6 fibers have greater ductility. Thus by commingling these fibers prior to molding in a resin, the resulting hybrid composite may be mechanically superior to the corresponding single fiber-type composites. The contribution made by viscoelastically generated prestress, via the commingled nylon fibers, should add further performance enhancement. This paper reports on an initial study into the Charpy impact toughness and flexural stiffness of hybrid (commingled) nylon/Kevlar fiber viscoelastically prestressed composites at low fiber volume fractions. The main findings show that (i) hybrid composites (with no prestress) absorb more impact energy than Kevlar fiber-only composites; (ii) prestress further increases impact energy absorption in the hybrid case by up to 33%; (iii) prestress increases flexural modulus by ~40% in the hybrid composites. These findings are discussed in relation to practical composite applications.

Citation

Fazal, A., & Fancey, K. S. (2014). Performance enhancement of nylon/Kevlar fiber composites through viscoelastically generated pre-stress. Polymer composites, 35(5), 931-938. https://doi.org/10.1002/pc.22737

• Acceptance Date: Oct 13, 2013
• Online Publication Date: Oct 31, 2013
• Publication Date: 2014-05
• Deposit Date: Sep 3, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 23, 2017
• Journal: Polymer composites
• Print ISSN: 0272-8397
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 35
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 931-938
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pc.22737
• Keywords: Nylon/Kevlar fibre composites
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/378743
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pc.22737/abstract
• Additional Information: Author's accepted manuscript of article published in: Polymer composites, 2014, v.35, issue 5
• Contract Date: Nov 23, 2017