Natural and Synthetic Fiber Reinforced Composites
Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites offer several exclusive properties and are preferred for wide use in automotive, aerospace, marine, construction,and coindustrial applications.
They are made-up from a combination of polymers such as epoxy, phenol-formaldehyde, and vinyl-ester and are reinforced with a variation of fibers such as matrix carbon, glass, and aramid. When composites are combined with reinforcement supplements, the use of natural compounds containing synthetic fibers and synthetics containing natural fiber materials in a mixture or as individual constituents are mandatory to obtain superior properties of the resulting composites. In modern era, FRP has become a very important alternative material for structural components such as reinforcement bars and
pre-stressing owing to their outstanding properties such as high tensile strength, corrosion resistance, no magnetism, and light weight. Moreover, FRP has an excellent linear elastic response to stress up to failure and relatively low shear resistance, also fire resistance is very low even at elevated temperatures.
FRP composites have great potential in the market because they can constitute a wide variety of integrated materials that meet the requirements for high-precision applications. Designers and engineers can easily modify the chemical and physical properties of FRP composite materials by selecting certain types of fillers, additives, and core materials. However, only few books have been published in the area of FRP composites. Therefore, we believe the book “Natural and Synthetic Fiber Reinforced Composites” will be beneficial for scientists, engineers, academic staff, and students working in the area of natural
and synthesis reinforced polymers, and composites.
The book consists of 15 chapters. Chapter 1 summarizes the insights into glass fiber-based composites. Chapter 2 mainly focuses on presenting findings on the synthesis of cotton fiber and its structure. It includes the basics of cotton fibers in terms of their origin, their classifications, major steps of cotton production and cultivation, surface modification of cotton fibers, and solvents for cotton.
Chapter 3 reviews the generalized structure, synthesis procedures, and properties with a special emphasis on the change of properties with achange in synthesis conditions.
Chapter 4 emphasizes the introduction, classification, functionality, and applications of semi-synthetic and synthetic fiber composites. Chapter 5 discusses the role of tribological behavior of natural fiber reinforced composites and helps to understand the effectiveness of treatment and hybridization for influencing the factors friction and wear.
Chapter 6 is dedicated to the current state-of-the-art of synthetic fibers composites and their non-structural applications such as energy storage, thermoelectrics, chemical sensing, tribology, EMI shielding, drug delivery, etc. Chapter 7 analyzes the evolution of reinforced cementitious materials and their future possibilities as advanced building materials. Chapter 8 focuses on the fabrication of cotton fiber reinforced composites. Chapter 9 deals with the extraordinary mechanical, thermal, electrical, electronic, and field emission properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that have been attracting the attention of engineers and researchers for last three decades.
Chapter 10’s main emphasis is on the mechanical and thermal behavior of composites and their applications in various fields. A review of the research on sisal fibers in a polymer matrix is a main part of this chapter. Chapter 11 highlights the properties of FRP with the aim to target the influence of various reinforcement fibers, polymer matrices, and fillers on the individual properties.
Chapter 12 gives an overview of the thermal behavior of natural based fibers composites, a topic that is further elaborated in Chapter 13. Chapters 14 and 15 give an overview of the recent advances in naturla fiber based polymer composites. They cover the current research efforts carried out in the area of NFRCs development, major approaches, and revolutions in enhancing their performance. Different fibers pre-treatment and modification techniques are also discussed along with their effect on characteristics of natural fibers, polymer composites reinforced with natural fibers and their recent development, challenges,