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Fire Retardant Polymer Nanocomposites: Materials Design and Thermal Degradation Modeling
Title
Fire Retardant Polymer Nanocomposites: Materials Design and Thermal Degradation Modeling.
Creator
Zhuge, Jinfeng, Gou, Jihua, Chen, Ruey-Hung, Kapat, Jayanta, Zhai, Lei, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Compared to conventional materials, polymer matrix composites (PMCs) have a number of attractive properties, including light weight, easiness of installation, potential to lower system-level cost, high overall durability, and less susceptibility to environmental deterioration. However, PMCs are vulnerable to fire such that they degrade, decompose, and sometimes yield toxic gases at high temperature. The degradation and decomposition of composites lead to loss in mass, resulting in loss in...
Show moreCompared to conventional materials, polymer matrix composites (PMCs) have a number of attractive properties, including light weight, easiness of installation, potential to lower system-level cost, high overall durability, and less susceptibility to environmental deterioration. However, PMCs are vulnerable to fire such that they degrade, decompose, and sometimes yield toxic gases at high temperature. The degradation and decomposition of composites lead to loss in mass, resulting in loss in mechanical strength.This research aims to improve the structural integrity of the PMCs under fire conditions by designing and optimizing a fire retardant nanopaper coating, and to fundamentally understand the thermal response and post-fire mechanical behavior the PMCs through numerical modeling. Specifically, a novel paper-making process that combined carbon nanofiber, nanoclay, exfoliated graphite nanoplatelet, and ammonium polyphosphate into a self-standing nanopaper was developed. The nanopaper was then coated onto the surface of the PMCs to improve the fire retardant performance of the material. The morphology, thermal stability, flammability, and post-fire flexural modulus of the nanopaper coated-PMCs were characterized. The fire retardant mechanism of the nanopaper coating was studied.Upon successfully improving the structure integrity of the PMCs by the nanopaper coatings, a thermal degradation model that captured the decomposition reaction of the polymer matrix with a second kind boundary condition (constant heat flux) was solved using Finite Element (FE) method. The weak form of the model was constructed by the weighted residual method. The model quantified the thermal and post-fire flexural responses of the composites subject to continuously applied heat fluxes. A temperature dependent post-fire residual modulus was assigned to each element in the FE domain. The bulk residual modulus was computed by assembling the modulus of each element. Based on the FE model, a refined Finite Difference (FD) model was developed to predict the fire response of the PMCs coated with the nanopapers. The FD model adopted the same post-fire mechanical evaluation method. However, unlike the FE model, the flow of the decomposed gas, and permeability and porosity of the composites were taken into account in the refined FD model. The numerical analysis indicated that the thickness and porosity of the composites had a profound impact on the thermal response of the composites.The research funding from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Federal Aviation Administration Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation (FAA COE AST) is acknowledged.
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Date Issued
2012
Identifier
CFE0004263, ucf:49534
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004263
PROCESSING, OPTIMIZATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF FIRE RETARDANT POLYMER NANOCOMPOSITES
Title
PROCESSING, OPTIMIZATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF FIRE RETARDANT POLYMER NANOCOMPOSITES.
Creator
Zhuge, Jinfeng, Gou, Jihua, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Fiber reinforced polymeric composites (FRPC) have superior physical and mechanical properties, such as high specific strength, light weight, and good fatigue and corrosion resistance. They have become competitive engineering materials to replace conventional metallic materials in many important sectors of industry such as aircraft, naval constructions, ships, buildings, transportation, electrical and electronics components, and offshore structures. However, since FRPC contain polymer matrix,...
Show moreFiber reinforced polymeric composites (FRPC) have superior physical and mechanical properties, such as high specific strength, light weight, and good fatigue and corrosion resistance. They have become competitive engineering materials to replace conventional metallic materials in many important sectors of industry such as aircraft, naval constructions, ships, buildings, transportation, electrical and electronics components, and offshore structures. However, since FRPC contain polymer matrix, the polymer composites and their structures are combustible. FRPC will degrade, decompose, and sometimes yield toxic gases at high temperature or subject to fire conditions. The objective of this study is to design and optimize fire retardant nanopaper by utilizing the synergistic effects of different nanoparticles. A paper-making technique that combined carbon nanofiber, nanoclay, polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes, graphite nanoplatelet, and ammonium polyphosphate into self-standing nanopaper was developed. The fire retardant nanopaper was further incorporated into the polymer matrix, in conjunction with continuous fiber mats, through resin transfer molding process to improve fire retardant performance of structural composites. The morphology, thermal stability, and flammability of polymer composites coated with hybrid nanopaper were studied. The cone calorimeter test results indicated that the peak heat release rate of the composites coated with a CNF-clay nanopaper was reduced by 60.5%. The compact char material formed on the surface of the residues of the CNF-clay nanopaper was analyzed to understand the fire retardant mechanism of the nanopaper. The financial support from Office of Naval Research is acklowdged.
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Date Issued
2010
Identifier
CFE0003151, ucf:48618
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003151