MEE 241

ENGINEERING MATERIALS

Reinforcement
Class: 05

Prepared by: Nafiza Anjum, Lecturer, MEE, SUST

Before We Go

Things
You Read

Question
Organic Fiber

Which one is more stiff and strong?

 Organic Fiber

• Oriented molecular chains • Oriented molecular chains

• Not EXTENDED. • Also EXTENDED.
• Low stiffness and strength. • High stiffness and strength.
• Young’s modulus ~10 Gpa. • Young’s modulus ~70+ Gpa.
• High draw ratio.
Organic Fiber
Draw Ratio:
To get a Young’s modulus value greater than 70
GPa, one needs rather high draw ratios, i.e., a very
high degree of elongation must be carried out
under such conditions that macroscopic elongation
results in a corresponding elongation at a molecular
level.
 Organic Fiber
Draw Ratio:
The drawing behavior of a polymer is a sensitive
function of
 its
molecular weight and
 deformation conditions (temperature and strain rate).

Too low a drawing temperature - produces voids.

Too high a drawing temperature - the macroscopic
elongation of the material does not result in a
molecular alignment, and consequently, no stiffness
enhancement results.
 Organic Fiber
Two different approaches to make high-modulus organic
fibers:

1. Choosing a conventional polymer with appropriate

molecular weight distributions. Followed by drawing at
suitable temperatures to convert the original folded
chain structure into an oriented, extended chain
structure.

Example: Oriented Polyethylene Fiber.

 Organic Fiber
Two different approaches to make high-modulus organic
fibers:

2. Synthesis, followed by extrusion of a new class of

polymers, called liquid crystal polymers. These have a
rigid-rod molecular chain structure.

Example: Aramid Fiber.

 Organic Fiber
Oriented Polyethylene Fiber:

 Polyethylene (PE) is a simple, linear macromolecule.

 easier to obtain an extended and oriented chain
structure.
 High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is more linear and has
a high degree of crystallinity.
 Organic Fiber
Oriented Polyethylene Fiber:

 Processed by solution and gel spinning (SolGel) of very

high molecular weight polyethylene (>10^6).
 Results in moduli as high as 200 GPa.
 An appropriate polymer solution is converted into gel,
which is drawn to give the fiber.
Organic Fiber
 Organic Fiber
Oriented Polyethylene Fiber:
 a dilute (5–10 %) solution of polymer in the
appropriate solvent at about 150 C. A dilute solution
allows for a lesser chain entanglement, which makes it
easier for the final fiber to be highly oriented.
 A polyethylene gel is produced when the solution
coming out of the spinneret is quenched by air.
 The as-spun gelled fiber enters a cooling bath. At this
stage, the fiber is thought to have a structure consisting
of folded chain lamellae with solvent between them.
 The gelled fibers are drawn at 120 C.
 Organic Fiber
Oriented Polyethylene Fiber:

One problem with this gel route is the low spinning rates
of 1.5 m/min.

At higher rates, the properties obtained are not very

good.
Organic Fiber
Aramid Fiber:
 Aramid= aromatic polyamide fibers.

 “a manufactured fiber in which the fiber-forming

substance is a long-chain synthetic polyamide in
which at least 85 % of the amide linkages are
attached directly to two aromatic rings.”

 Well-known commercial names - Kevlar and Nomex

(Du Pont) and Twaron (Teijin Aramid).
Aramid Fiber

Amide
Linkage
Aramid Fiber
liquid crystalline order.
with increasing concentration of rodlike molecules,
one can dissolve more polymer by forming regions
of partial order, that is, regions in which the chains
form a parallel array. This partially ordered state is
called a liquid crystalline state
Aramid Fiber
Aramid Fiber
Processing:
Aramid Fiber
Processing:
 Solution-polycondensation of diamines and diacid halides
at low temperatures (near 0 C) gives the aramid forming
polyamides. Low temperatures are used to inhibit any by-
product generation and promote linear polyamide
formation.
 The resulting polymer is pulverized, washed, and dried

 mixed with concentrated H2SO4

 extruded through a spinneret at about 100 C.

 The jets from the orifices pass through about 1 cm of air

layer before entering a cold water (0–4 C) bath. The fiber
solidifies in the air gap, and the acid is removed in the
coagulation bath
 Just Doing My Job

But Yeah, Please! Thank Me!