Investigation of the effect of engine fuels on fibre-matrix adhesion in glass fibre reinforced polyamide

Liu Yang, James Thomason, Ulf Nagel, Ross Minty, Camilo Cruz, Matthias De Monte

Research output: Contribution to conferencePresentation/Speech

Abstract

Glass fibre reinforced polyamides are composite materials exhibiting high levels of toughness, heat resistance and oil resistance in comparison with other reinforced thermoplastics. There has been a rapid increase in the number of moulded composites exposed to engine-related fluids (e.g. coolants and fuels) at high temperatures and/or pressure and this has led to a need for an improvement in our understanding of the performance of glass-reinforced polyamide under such conditions. The mechanical performance of these composites results from a combination of the fibre and matrix properties and the ability to transfer stresses across the fibre-matrix interface. In this work, we investigated glass fibre-polyamide adhesion during fuel conditioning with two engine fluids, ethanol-based fuel and biodiesel. Both single fibres and composite were conditioned respectively in a mini-autoclave filled with each type of fuel at elevated temperature and pressure. The fibre-matrix adhesion was then characterised by interfacial shear strength (IFSS) measured by using a self-built microbond technique. The results showed that both fuels induce significant reduction in the IFSS and the ethanol-based fuel at 130°C caused a much more detrimental effect compared to the conditioning in biodiesel at 180°C.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 30 Jun 2016
Event17th European Conference on Composite Materials - Munich, Germany
Duration: 26 Jun 201630 Jun 2016

Conference

Conference17th European Conference on Composite Materials
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityMunich
Period26/06/1630/06/16

Keywords

  • engine fuel
  • glass fibre
  • reinforced polyamides

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