Thermal Expansion Coefficient of Unidirectional High-Strength Polyethylene Fiber Reinforced Plastics at Low Temperature

Abstract

High-strength polyethylene fiber (Dyneema®, DF) has a negative linear thermal expansion coefficient in the direction of the fiber. Thermal expansion coefficients of fiber-reinforced plastics are of important applications in cryogenic use. The purpose of this study is to construct the engineering technology for the thermal strain of DF reinforced plastics (DFRP) for cryogenic engineering. In this study, we investigate the thermal expansion coefficient of unidirectional high-strength DF reinforced plastics (UD-DFRP) in which DFs with different tensile moduli (15–134 GPa) and thermal expansion coefficients are used. Furthermore, using the thermal expansion coefficient and tensile modulus of each DF fiber and the matrix resin, the thermal expansion coefficients of the DFRPs are estimated by the rule of mixtures and are compared with the measured values. The results indicate that the thermal expansion coefficient of UD-DFRP behaves in a similar way to that expected from calculations based on the rule of mixtures. In addition, relationships concerning the difference between the calculated and measured values, the difference in the thermal expansion coefficient of the fiber and the resin, and the surface treatment of the fiber (adhesivity), as well as the diameter of the fiber (the area of the interfacial bonding) are studied. The results show that all of these influence the thermal expansion coefficient of UD-DFRP. The design of negative thermal expansion coefficient of UD-DFRP is established.