Premium
Toughening of wood particle composites—Effects of sisal fibers
Author(s) -
Nuñez Adrián J.,
Aranguren Mirta I.,
Berglund Lars A.
Publication year - 2006
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.23716
Subject(s) - composite material , materials science , sisal , composite number , thermosetting polymer , fracture toughness , fracture mechanics , toughness
Abstract Sisal fibers were added to wood particle composites to enhance their toughness. The selected matrix was a commercial styrene diluted unsaturated polyester thermoset resin. Fracture tests were carried out using single‐edge notched beam geometries. Stiffness, strength, critical stress intensity factor K IQ , and work of fracture W f of notched specimens were determined. The incorporation of sisal fibers into wood particle composites significantly changed the fracture mode of the resulting hybrid composite. For the neat matrix and the wood particle composites, once the maximum load was reached, the crack propagated in a catastrophic way. For hybrid composites, fiber bridging and pull‐out were the mechanisms causing increased crack growth resistance. Addition of a 7% wt of sisal fibers almost doubled the K IQ value of a composite containing 12% wt of woodflour. Moreover, the W f increased almost 10‐fold, for the same sample. In general, the two composite toughness parameters K IQ and W f increased when the fraction of sisal fibers was increased. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 1982–1987, 2006