Durability study on the interlaminar shear behavior of glass-fibre reinforced polypropylene (GFRPP) bars for marine applications

The reduction of both energy consumption and production/maintenance costs in the industry requires the use of advanced engineering materials with remarkable features, including lightweight and long-term service life. As one of the advanced engineering materials, composites are widely applied in industry and civilian daily life. Nevertheless, there are some mechanical factors such as tensile strength restricting the application of such a material. To this end, this study is aimed to comprehensively review the recent research on the effects of fabrication characteristics on the tensile resistance of GFRP, CFRP, and AFRP composites. As revealed by recent progress, the epoxy resin is an advisable option for the production of high-performance polymeric composites due to the remarkable tensility, compression, and corrosion resistance. However, the high cost of epoxy resin is not favorable for mass production. In hybrid composites, stacking sequence is a vital factor that determines the ultimate tensile strength. In terms of higher mechanical performance, some researchers suggested using Kevlar fibers with woven orientation alongside the Carbon as axial fibers. At the same time, it is essential to carefully establish the value of fiber volume fraction. Otherwise, this can lead to dramatic internal defects such as agglomeration. In general, this review article was performed to investigate the impacts of composite fabrication characteristics such as fabrication method, reinforcing fibers orientation, fiber type, matrix phase type, and volume fraction of reinforcing phase on the tensile properties of composites used in aerospace, military, civil constructions, and automotive applications. In addition, the authors tried their best to make this research a credible source in the field of mechanical properties of CFRP, GFRP, and AFRP composites for future studies of other researchers. 

A review on fabrication techniques and tensile properties of glass, carbon, and Kevlar fiber reinforced rolymer composites

Water droplet bouncing on pre-frosted superhydrophobic carbon soot — A step forward in designing passive icephobic surfaces

Researchers successfully design materials with extremely low ice adhesion. Ice accretion has a negative impact on critical infrastructure, as well as a range of commercial and residential activities. Icephobic surfaces are defined by an ice adhesion strength τice < 100 kPa. However, the passive removal of ice requires much lower values of τice, such as on airplane wings or power lines (τice < 20 kPa). Such low τice values are scarcely reported, and robust coatings that maintain these low values have not been reported previously. We show that, irrespective of material chemistry, by tailoring the cross-link density of different elastomeric coatings and by enabling interfacial slippage, it is possible to systematically design coatings with extremely low ice adhesion (τice < 0.2 kPa). These newfound mechanisms allow for the rational design of icephobic coatings with virtually any desired ice adhesion strength. By using these mechanisms, we fabricate extremely durable coatings that maintain τice < 10 kPa after severe mechanical abrasion, acid/base exposure, 100 icing/deicing cycles, thermal cycling, accelerated corrosion, and exposure to Michigan wintery conditions over several months.

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Designing Durable Icephobic Surfaces

The thermoplastic composite fasteners (TPCF) are applied to join the composite sheets with interference-fit in the present study, aiming at producing a lightweight and high-strength composite joint. The interference-fit installation process and tensile process of TPCF joint are analysed by experimental and numerical methods. For the interference size of 0.55% and 1.04%, the interference induces uniform pre-compression stress at the hole wall, the damage of the hole wall and the TPCF is acceptable. As the interference size raises to 2.06%, the damage is catastrophic, the radial stress of the hole wall becomes uneven. The ultimate strength of TPCF joint increases first and then decreases as the interference size increases. The ultimate strength reaches the maximum value of 363 MPa when interference size is 1.04%, which increases by 19% compared to clearance-fit joint. The specific strength of TPCF joint is over three times higher than that of titanium bolted joint. 

Lightweight and high-strength interference-fit composite joint reinforced by thermoplastic composite fastener

Disclosed are an intelligent anti-icing material, a preparation method therefor and the use thereof. The intelligent anti-icing material comprises a hydrophobic resin and a nickel-titanium alloy wire embedded in the hydrophobic resin. When there is a reduction in the ambient temperature, the hydrophobic resin in the intelligent anti-icing material can shrink, and the nickel-titanium alloy wire having thermoelastic martensite phase transformation properties can undergo a phase transformation and expand, and the direction of the expansion force inside an ice layer is changed, such that tiny cracks are formed at the interface between the ice layer and the surface of the material, thereby reducing the adhesion force of the ice layer on the surface of the material and accelerating the automatic falling of the ice layer, and an excellent anti-icing using effect is thus achieved without the need for heating. The experimental effects show that the intelligent anti-icing material has a good anti-icing effect; furthermore, under conditions of -20oC, the adhesion force of an ice layer on the surface of the intelligent anti-icing material is reduced by 18.2-24.2% relative to that of a non-intelligent anti-icing composite material.

Xiaosa Yuan

Papers

Intelligent anti-icing material, preparation method therefor and use thereof