Premium
Mechanical properties of polymer–paper laminates
Author(s) -
Prud'Homme Robert E.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1977.070210408
Subject(s) - composite material , materials science , composite laminates , polymer , ultimate tensile strength , modulus , composite number , penetration (warfare) , operations research , engineering
Tensile mechanical properties of synthetic polymer–paper laminates were measured. The laminates were constructed by hot pressing a sandwich made of a sheet of paper between polymer films. There is complete penetration of the polymer inside the paper; no voids are left. Two different polymer matrices were used: poly(methyl methacrylate) and polyethylene. Several paper samples were utilized: an unoriented holocellulose paper (a strong paper), a highly oriented holocellulose paper, and an unoriented Whatman filter paper (a weak paper). The laminates contain from 0% to 50% of paper. Young's moduli and breaking strengths of the unoriented holocellulose paper laminates can be theoretically predicted from the properties of their constituents using laws of mixtures. The mechanical properties of the Whatman paper laminates are significantly higher than those predicted from the laws of mixtures. This indicates that the polymer increases the strength of the fiber‐to‐fiber bonds of the weaker sheets, although it does not change the bond strength of a stronger paper such as the holocellulose paper. For the oriented paper laminates, changes in Young's modulus with angle of measurement are explained by the composite materials theories if the angular variations in shear modulus are taken in to account. Changes in breaking strength with angle for the oriented laminates can be analyzed by Tsai and Azzi's theory for composite materials.