STUDY OF THE COMPACTION BEHAVIOR OF NATURAL FIBER REINFORCEMENTS IN LIQUID COMPOSITE MOLDING PROCESSES

GASTÓN FRANCUCCI; EXEQUIEL S. RODRIGUEZ; ANALÍA VÁZQUEZ

Ascona

Conferencia; 10th International Conference on Flow Processes in Composite Materials; 2010

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich

The study of the compaction response of the reinforcements used inLCM processes is of major importance, because it affects the processing variables suchas clamping forces and fabric permeability, the part quality and thickness, fiber volumecontent, and composite final mechanical properties. In this work, the compactionbehavior of natural fiber reinforcements is analyzed. It was found that natural fibersstructure affected the compaction response of the preform by increasing the permanentdeformation. The effect of fluid absorption on the compaction behavior of jute wovenfabrics and sisal fiber mats was analyzed by changing the immersion time of the fabricsin the test fluid. It was found that fluid absorption reduced the compaction pressure innatural fiber performs due to fiber softening. This phenomenon was not observed inglass fiber mats.