Tensile and viscoelastic properties of vinylester-matrix composites reinforced with woven jute fabrics

A. STOCCHI, C. BERNAL, J. BIAGOTTI, J. KENNY AND A. VÁZQUEZ

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Conferencia; COMAT 2005; 2005

The increasingly trend of using composite materials in many structural and semi-structural applications, makes necessary the knowledge of their viscoelastic and mechanical response. The low specific gravity, the workable specific modulus, the low cost and the non-abrasive and renewable nature of cellulosic fibers, make them attractive to use as reinforcements in composite materials. However, their commercial use is still limited due to their poor wettability and adhesion characteristics towards many commercial synthetic resins. Thus, natural fiber reinforced composites have low stiffness and poor mechanical and environmental resistance. Therefore, several treatments have been proposed in the literature to improve fiber-matrix interfacial properties between cellulosic fibers and hydrocarbon polymers. In this work, the viscoelastic and the tensile behavior of vinylester-matrix composites reinforced with simply washed or chemically treated jute fabrics was investigated. Treatment with alkali, acetylation and a simple treatmente with silicone were used. Unless the composite with acetylated fibers all composites exhibited higher values of rubbery storage modulus than the matrix. -All treated fiber composites have similar damping capacities. Furthermore, silicone had a plasticizing effect on the vinylester matrix. The composites with washed fibers and with fibers treated with silicone exhibited slightly higher stiffness and strength values than other treated fiber composites. In addition to its experimental simplicity, the treatment with silicone also allowed to obtain the composites with best combination of stiffness, strength and toughness.