Analysis of Mechanical Behavior of Phenol Formaldehyde Matrix Composites Using Flax-g-Poly (MMA) as Reinforcing Materials

Abstract

This article deals with synthesis of phenol-formaldehyde resin and preparation of phenol-formaldehyde matrix based composites using raw flax and flax graft co-polymer as reinforcing agent. Prior to using the graft co-polymer as a reinforcing material, its strength vis-à-vis that of raw flax are studied in this study. Composites thus prepared are subjected to different mechanical tests such as wear, tensile, and compression tests etc. The graft co-polymers are characterized by using FTIR and scanning electron microscope (SEM). It has been observed that the composites refined with raw flax are more wear resistant as compared to the graft copolymer refined composites. In the case of the tensile test, composites reinforced with grafted flax showed more extension as compared to that of raw flax reinforcement, but required less loading at break point. However, composites with raw flax reinforcement initially showed more compression as compared to reinforcement with grafted fiber but at higher applied load grafted fiber reinforcement is found to show more compressive strength. Moreover, water repellency property of the fiber could be improved on grafting with methyl methacrylate (MMA) whereas the raw flax is found to be more vulnerable to water.