Effect of glass, carbon, and kevlar fibers on mechanical properties for polymeric composite tubes produced by a unidirectional winding method

Abstract

One of the applications of composites is in the manufacturing tubes, which are widely used in industries such as petroleum, petrochemical, and aerospace. Composite tubes are made of thermoset resin base material and reinforced by fibers, having a solid, lightweight, and corrosion-resistant structure, which is a great replacement for metal and concrete tubes. In this research, composite tubes with various resins base material, Swancor901, Epiran-1012, and Epiran-06FL reinforced by different fibers glass, carbon, and kevlar fibers, according to the compatible role, with the angle of 45° and unidirectional and same size, thickness, and diameter, were produced by the winding method. To study the mechanical properties of produced composite tubes, tensile, compressive, and three-point flexural strength tests were performed. The results showed that the highest ultimate tensile strength was obtained for carbon fibers reinforced tube (CFR) equal to 139MPa, which was 136% and 26% higher than kevlar fibers reinforced tube (KFR) and glass fibers reinforced tube (GFR), respectively. The highest flexural strength was also obtained for GFR equal to 91.08MPa, which is 132% and 13% higher than the flexural strength of CFR and KFR, respectively. Also, according to the results of the compression test, the highest compressive strength was observed in the samples reinforced with glass, kevlar, and carbon fibers, respectively. SEM imaging results from the cross-sections show that the best bonding between the base material and the fibers was observed for CFR.