• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.59-66
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• 2006

The thermal properties of wood flour, Hwangto, and maleated polyethylene (MAPE) reinforced HDPE composites were investigated in this study. The thermal behavior of reinforced wood polymer composites was characterized by means of thermogravimetric (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analyses. Hwangto and MAPE were used as an inorganic filler and a coupling agent, respectively. According to TGA analysis, the increase of wood flour level increased the thermal degradation of composites in the early stage, but decreased in the late stage. On the other hand, Hwangto reinforced composites showed the higher thermal stability than virgin HDPE, from the determination of differential peak temperature ($DT_p$). Decomposition temperature of wood flour and/or Hwangto reinforced composites increased with increase of heating rate. From DSC analysis, melting temperature of reinforced composites little bit increased with the addition of wood flour or Hwangto. As the loading of wood flour or Hwangto to HDPE increased, overall enthalpy decreased. It showed that wood flour and Hwangto absorbed more heat energy for melting the reinforced composites. Hwangto reinforced composites required more heat energy than wood flour reinforced composites and virgin HDPE. Coupling agent gave no significant effect on the thermal properties of composites. Thermal analyses indicate that composites with Hwangto are more thermally stable than those without Hwangto.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.299-306
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• 2019

The natural fibre composites are termed as bio-composites. They have shown a promising replacement to the current carbon/glass fibre reinforced composites as environmental friendly materials in specific applications. Natural fibre reinforced composites are potential materials for various engineering applications in automobile, railways, building and Aerospace industry. The natural fibre selected to fabricate the composite material is plant-based fibre e.g., sisal fibre. Sisal fibre is a suitable reinforcement for use in composites on account of its low density, high specific strength, and high hardness. Epoxy is a thermosetting polymer which is used as a resin in natural fibre reinforced composites. Hand lay-up technique was used to fabricate the composites by reinforcing sisal fibres into the epoxy matrix. Composites were prepared with the unidirectional alignment of sisal fibres. Test specimens with different fibre orientations were prepared. The fabricated composites were tested for mechanical properties. Impact test, tensile test, flexural test, hardness test, compression test, and thermal test of composites had been conducted to assess its suitability in industrial applications. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) test revealed the microstructural information of the fractured surface of composites.

• Carbon letters
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.316-323
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• 2008

The factors that influence ablation resistance in fiber composites are properties of the reinforced fiber and matrix, plugging quantity of fiber, geometrical arrangement, crack, pore size, and their distributions. To examine ablation resistance according to distribution of crack and pore size that exist in carbon/carbon composites, this study produced various sizes of unit cells of preforms. They were densified using high pressure impregnation and carbonization process. Reinforced fiber is PAN based carbon fiber and composites were heat-treated up to $2800^{\circ}C$. The finally acquired density of carbon/carbon composites reached more than $1.932\;g/cm^3$. The ablation test was performed by a solid propellant rocket engine. The erosion rate of samples is below 0.0286 mm/s. In conclusion, in terms of ablation properties, the higher degree of graphitization is, the more fibers that are arranged vertically to the direction of combustion flame are, and the less interface between reinforced fiber bundle and matrix is, the better ablation resistance is shown.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.7 s.250
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• pp.794-799
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• 2006

In recent years, the use of natural fiber as reinforcement in polymer composites to replace synthetic fiber such as glass fiber is receiving increasing attention. Because of increasing usage according to the high demand, the cost of thermoplastic has increased rapidly over the past decades. We used a thermoplastic polymer(polypropylene) as the matrix and a lignocellulosic material(rice-husk flour) as the reinforcement filler to prepare a particle-reinforced composite to examine the possibility of using lignocellulosic material as reinforcement filler and to determine data of test results for physical, mechanical and morphological properties of the composite according to the reinforcement filler content in respect to thermoplastic polymer, In this study, PLA/PP rice-husk fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites that made by the hot press molding method according to appropriate manufacturing process was evaluated as mechanical properties.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.50-55
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• 2008

Recently, sea algae cultivation as carbon sink and carbon dioxide fixation have been considered. Also, various researches on bioenergy derived from sea algae and the utilization of fibers, saccharide, and lipid of sea algae have been performing. Till now, algae fibers has been used for manufacturing of paper and reinforcing of polymer composites and the extracts of sea algae are used for cosmetics, pharmaceutical materials and food such as agar. Especially, algae fiber has so similar properties to cellulose in terms of crystallinity and functional groups that it can be utilized as reinforcements of biocomposites. Biocomposites as alternatives of glass fiber reinforced polymer composites are environmentally friendly polymer composites reinforced with natural fibers and are actively applying to the automobiles and construction industries. In this paper, characteristics of algae fiber and biocomposites reinforced with algae fiber as environmentally friendly energy materials have been introduced.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.3 no.3 s.9
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• pp.85-93
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• 2003

Steel, concrete and their combination materials are the most 6commonly used materials for civil engineering structural systems such as buildings, bridge structures and other structures. Recently, however, fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites, a relatively new composite material made of fibers and polymer resins, have been gradually used in structural systems as an alternative structural material. This paper describes a comparison of design strength equations for steel column and FRP composite column based on design philosophies. The safety factors used in allowable stress design (ASD) are relatively higher in FRP structural design than steel structural design. Column critical stress equations of FRP composites column from an experimental study can be represented by Euler elastic buckling equation at the long-range of slenderness, and an exponential form at the short-range of slenderness as defined in Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) of steel column. The column strength of steel and FRP composite columns in large slenderness is independent of material strength, this result verified the elastic buckling equation as derived by Eq. (15) and Eq. (5).

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.530-536
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• 2009

A cycloaliphatic epoxy/acidic anhydride system incorporating short carbon fibers (SCF) and short glass fibers (SGF) was fabricated and thermal/mechanical properties were characterized. At low filler content both SCF- and SGF-reinforced composites showed a similar decrease in coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), measured by a thermomechanical analyzer, with increasing loadings, above which SCF became more effective than SGF at reducing the CTE. Experimental CTE data for the SCF-reinforced composites is best described by the rule of mixtures at lower SCF contents and by the Craft-Christensen model at higher SCF contents. Storage modulus (E') at $30^{\circ}C$ and $180^{\circ}C$ was greatly enhanced for short fiber-filled composites compared to unfilled specimens, Scanning electron microscopy of the fracture surfaces indicated that the decreased CTE and the increased E' of the short fiber-reinforced composites resulted from good interfacial adhesion between the fibers and epoxy matrix.

• Magazine of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.145-155
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• 1993

The results of an experimental study on the manufacture and the mechanical properties of fiber reinforced fly ash$\cdot$lime$\cdot$gypsum composites are presented in this paper. 'The composites using fly ash, lime, and gypsum were prepared with various fibers (PAN-derived and Pitch-derived carbon fiber, alkali-resistance glass fiber) and a small amount of polymer emulsion-styrene butadiene rubber latex (SBR). As the test results show, the manufacturing process technology of fly ash$\cdot$lime$\cdot$gypsum composites was developed and its optimum mix proportions were successfully proposed. And the flexural strength and toughness of fiber reinforced fly ash$\cdot$lime $\cdot$gypsum composites were increased remarkably by fiber contents, but the compressive strength of the composites were influenced by the kinds fiber more than by the fiber contents. Also, the addition of a polymer emulsion to the composites decreased the bulk specific gravity, but the compressive and flexural strength, and the toughness of the composites were not influenced by it, but were considerably improved by increasing fiber contents.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.186-190
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• 2015

$TiO_2$ nanoparticles can be used to improve the performance of carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy resin composites. In this study, the effect of the size of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles on the mechanical properties of carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy resin composites was investigated. The size of the $TiO_2$ nanoparticles was easily controlled using heat treatment. The size of the $TiO_2$ nanoparticles for this study were20nm, 100nm, and 200nm. Three types of carbon fibers with different diameters were also used in this study. The carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy resin composites with 20-nm $TiO_2$ powder showed the highest tensile strength compared to the other types of CFRP, regardless of the fiber maker or fiber diameter. The size of the $TiO_2$ powder and the diameter of the carbon fiber strongly affected the interfacial properties of all kinds of CFRP in this study.

• Advanced Composite Materials
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.83-94
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• 2007

Woven sisal textile fiber reinforced composites were used to evaluate fracture toughness, tensile and three-point bending. The water absorption testing of all specimens was repeated five times in this study. All specimens were immersed in pure water during 9 days at room temperature, and dried in 1 day at $50^{\circ}C$. Two kinds of polymer matrices such as epoxy and vinyl-ester were used. Fractured surfaces were taken to study the failure mechanism and fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion. It is shown that it can be enhanced to improve their mechanical performance to reveal the relationship between fracture toughness and water absorption fatigue according to different polymer matrices. Water uptake of the epoxy composites was found to increase with cycle times. Mechanical properties are dramatically affected by the water absorption cycles. Water-absorbed samples showed poor mechanical properties, such as lower values of maximum strength and extreme elongation. The $K_{IC}$ values demonstrated a decrease in inclination with increasing cyclic times of wetting and drying for the epoxy and vinyl-ester.