The effect of an external flaw on the tensile strength of short kevlar fiber-thermoplastic
composites has been studied with respect to fiber content, fiber orientation,
location of the external flaw, and the temperature of test. The composites showed
a three-step reduction in tensile strength with increasing flaw size. The critical flaw-length
region was shifted to higher flaw-size levels with increasing fiber content. With increasing
temperature, the critical flaw length was increased in the case of unfilled TPU, whereas it
remained more or less constant in the case of short kevlar fiber-filled-TPU composite.
Sunil,K Narayanankutty(Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd., August 29, 1991)
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Abstract:
The thermal degradation of short kevlar fibre-thermoplastic polyurethane
(TPU) composites has been studied by Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)
and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). TGA showed that the thermal
degradation of TPU takes place in two steps with peak maxima (T1max and
T2ma,) at 383°C and 448°C, respectively. In the presence of 10-40 phr of short
kevlar fibres, T1_ and T2max were shifted to lower temperatures. The
temperature of onset of degradation was increased from 245 to 255°C at 40
parts per hundred rubber (phr) fibre loading. Kinetic studies showed that the
degradation of TPU and kevlar-TPU composite follows first-order reaction
kinetics. The DSC study showed that there is an improvement in thermal
stability of TPU in the presence of 20 phr of short kevlar fibres.