Manufacturing of Transparent Composites Using Vacuum Infusion Process

Abstract

A novel optically-transparent glass fibre reinforced polymer matrix composite has been developed by infusing a clear epoxy resin system of matching refractive index into a conventional E-glass fabric preform. Transparent composites are manufactured using a low cost, environmentally friendly vacuum infusion process. Physical and mechanical tests have been conducted. Transparent composites manufactured using the modified vacuum infusion process had a fibre volume fraction of 40%. Tensile strength and tensile modulus of these composites were 374.9 MPa and 31.74 GPa respectively. The results indicate that the transparent composites possess good physical and mechanical properties. These transparent composites form a good base for developing new generation transparent armour systems.

Characterization of Sugar Palm Nanocellulose and Its Potential for Reinforcement with a Starch-Based Composite

“…Similarly, in the purification stage, if the removal of matrix material was incomplete (e.g., only partial hemicelluloses were removed), these matrix materials can prevent the coalescence of the microfibril bundles during the drying period and ease the subsequent fibrillation of the material. In addition, transmitting a charge through the process of oxidation (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidinyl-1-oxyl radical (TEMPO) region-selective oxidation) or adsorption of charged polyelectrolytes (e.g., carboxymethyl cellulose treatment) on the surface of microfibril increases the interfabrillar repulsive forces (Menta et al, 2014). (B-F) TEM micrographs of (B) sugar palm NFC isolated with high-pressure homogenization through 5 passes at 500 MPa, (C) NFC isolated with microfluidization through 15 passes at 150 MPa (Qing et al, 2013), (D) NFC after microgrinding for 6 hours at 1,500 rpm (Qing et al, 2013), (E) bleached frozen pulp after cryocrushing and treatment in a homogenizer (Alemdar and Sain, 2008), and (F) ultrasonication-derived nanocellulose (Zhou et al, 2012).…”

“…FIGURE 10.8 (A) SEM micrographs of microcrystalline cellulose(Menta et al, 2014). (B-F) TEM micrographs of (B) sugar palm NFC isolated with high-pressure homogenization through 5 passes at 500 MPa, (C) NFC isolated with microfluidization through 15 passes at 150 MPa(Qing et al, 2013), (D) NFC after microgrinding for 6 hours at 1,500 rpm(Qing et al, 2013), (E) bleached frozen pulp after cryocrushing and treatment in a homogenizer(Alemdar and Sain, 2008), and (F) ultrasonication-derived nanocellulose(Zhou et al, 2012).…”

Transparent Fiber-Reinforced Composites Based on a Thermoset Resin Using Liquid Composite Molding (LCM) Techniques

“…Epoxy-based resins are one of the widely applied systems as polymer matrices of tGFRPs [1,8,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Transparent composites made of epoxy-based resin systems [15,16] combined with a commercial-grade biaxially woven E-glass fabric with a vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) process were reported to have a tensile strength of 374.9 MPa, a tensile modulus of 31.74 GPa at a fiber volume fraction of 40.3 v.%.…”

“…Epoxy-based resins are one of the widely applied systems as polymer matrices of tGFRPs [1,8,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Transparent composites made of epoxy-based resin systems [15,16] combined with a commercial-grade biaxially woven E-glass fabric with a vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) process were reported to have a tensile strength of 374.9 MPa, a tensile modulus of 31.74 GPa at a fiber volume fraction of 40.3 v.%. Jang et al [17] manufactured transparent composites by casting various textile impregnations onto chopped fibers with different lengths, all made from E-glass fibers, and an epoxyfunctionalized siloxane hybrid resin (EPSH), whose RI was tailored to that of the fibers.…”

Development of fiber-reinforced transparent composites

“…The idea of manufacturing a transparent composite relies heavily on matching and maintaining the refractive index match between both the fiber and the matrix. 1,2 The applications of an optically clear composite include ballistic armor, strengthened windows for vehicles, aircraft, or buildings, and visors for eyewear. 3,4 Recently researches have approached transparent composites in several different ways, but the main driving force for successful manufacturing of a transparent composite is for armor applications.…”