Ramie fabric Elium® composites with flame retardant coating: Flammability, smoke, viscoelastic and mechanical properties

Pooria Khalili, Brina Blinzler, Roland Kádár, Per Blomqvist, Anna Sandinge, Roeland Bisschop, Xiaoling Liu

Research output: Journal PublicationArticlepeer-review

37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This investigation studied the utilization of intumescent thermal resistive mats to provide surface protection to the core natural fibre-reinforced Elium® composite structural integrity. The intumescent mats contained flame retardant (FR) i.e. expandable graphite (EG) with four different expansion ratios and alumina trihydrate (ATH). All natural fibre thermoplastic composites were fabricated using a resin infusion technique. The impact of char thickness and chemical compositions on the flammability and smoke properties was investigated. It was found that surface protection significantly reduced the peak heat release rate, total smoke release, smoke extinction area and CO2 yield, and substantially enhanced UL-94 rating, time to ignition and residual char network, depending on the EG exfoliation ratio, ATH and mineral wool fibre. The glass transition temperature increased for the FR composites containing EG with lower expansion ratio. Inclusion of intumescent mats increased the strength of the composites while it had a negative effect on the modulus.

Original languageEnglish
Article number105986
JournalComposites - Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing
Volume137
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2020

Keywords

  • A. Natural fibres
  • A. Thermoplastic resin
  • E. Vacuum infusion
  • Elium®

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ceramics and Composites
  • Mechanics of Materials

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