W. Gu et al., Volume fraction effects on interfacial adhesion strength of glass-fiber-reinforced polymer composites, MAT SCI E A, 277(1-2), 2000, pp. 237-243
The performance of fiber-reinforced composites is often controlled by the p
roperties of the fiber-matrix interface. Good interfacial bonding (or adhes
ion), to ensure load transfer from matrix to reinforcement, is a primary re
quirement for effective use of reinforcement properties. Thus, a fundamenta
l understanding of interfacial properties and a quantitative characterizati
on of interfacial adhesion strength can help in evaluating the mechanical b
ehavior and capabilities of composite materials. A large number of analytic
al techniques have been developed for understanding interfacial adhesion of
glass-fiber-reinforced polymers. Among these techniques, the vibration dam
ping technique has the advantage of being non-destructive as well as highly
sensitive for evaluating the interfacial region, and it can allow the mate
rials industry to rapidly determine the mechanical properties of composites
. In the present study, a simple optical system was contributed for measuri
ng the damping factor of uniaxial fiber-reinforced polymer composites in th
e shape of cantilever beams. The interfacial damping factors in glass-fiber
-reinforced epoxy resin composites were correlated with transverse tensile
strength, which is a qualitative measurement of adhesion at the fiber-matri
x interface. Four different composite systems were tested in this study. In
each system, three different surface treatments of glass-fiber at three di
fferent volume fractions were evaluated. The experimental results show an i
nverse relationship between damping contributed by the interface and compos
ite transverse tensile strength. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights
reserved.