Effects of Fiber Volume Fraction and Length on the Mechanical Properties of Milled Glass Fiber/Polyurea Composites

Abstract

Composites of polyurea (PU) reinforced with milled glass fiber (MGf) were fabricated. The volume fraction and length of the milled glass fiber were varied to study their effects on the morphological and mechanical properties of the MGf/PU composites. The morphological attributes were characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The SEM investigations revealed a uniform distribution and arbitrary orientation of milled glass fiber in the polyurea matrix. Moreover, it seems that the composites with longer fiber exhibit better interfacial bonding. It was found from the FTIR studies that the incorporation of milled glass fiber into polyurea leads to more phase mixing and decreases the hydrogen bonding of the polyurea matrix, while having a negligible effect on the H-bond strength. The compression tests at different strain rates (0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 2000 and 3000 s−1) and dynamic mechanical properties over the temperature range from −30 to 100 °C at 1 Hz were performed. Experimental results show that the compressive behavior of MGf/PU composites is nonlinear and strain-rate-dependent. Both elastic modulus and flow stress at any given strain increased with strain rate. The composites with higher fiber volume fraction and longer fiber length are more sensitive to strain rate. Furthermore, the elastic modulus, stress at 65% strain and energy absorption capability were studied, taking into account both the effect of fiber volume fraction and mean fiber length. It is noted that an increase in fiber volume fraction and fiber length leads to an increase in elastic modulus, stress at 65% strain and absorbed energy up to ~103%, 83.0% and 137.5%, respectively. The storage and loss moduli of the composites also increase with fiber volume fraction and fiber length. It can be concluded that the addition of milled glass fiber into polyurea not only improves the stiffness of the composites but also increases their energy dissipative capability.