kompozitní materiály --- vlastnosti materiálů --- textilní materiály --- textilní vlákna

Composites have gained so much attention in most kinds of industries. They are greatly appreciated for their low weight and density compared to metals. These materials have not been fully adopted due to lack of knowledge of their capabilities. As a result interest in studying their properties is everywhere. The major problem with these materials is that as much as they have appreciable properties, these properties cannot be entirely predicted. Many conditions during their production affect the final properties. These production conditions may include choosing the appropriate matrix, curing temperature and ensuring even distribution of the matrix throughout the reinforcement.Within the composites themselves, woven fabric composites have gained more interest due to their ease to handle during production as compared to their unidirectional composite counterparts. Woven fabrics have the advantage of having the yarns interlaced and tight, thus making them easy to handle. One most important thing though is to ensure that an appropriate resin is chosen for any particular reinforcement.To enhance their properties, filler materials which contribute their effect to a micro and/or Nano scale are also being greatly investigated, so as to find out the properties they enhance and those they depreciate. Fillers enhance in increasing the volume of the matrix, since some of them like fly ash are far cheaper than polymers. Their addition is however crucial since their reaction with the matrix may also lead to undesired results.In this study, interest has been given to effects caused by fly ash particles to some properties of woven glass/epoxy composites. The properties studied include; flexural strength, stab resistance, electrical resistance, dynamic mechanical analysis, EMI shielding efficiency and UV-transmission.Results did show that whilst the addition of filler improves some properties, some properties are depreciated. As a result, the amount of filler and the type of filler to be added entirely depends on the final application of the composite. This means that before any composite material is produced, its intended application must be well understood so as to know which properties are of importance and which can be compromised.Fly ash is one of the cheap filler materials because it is readily produced by burning coal in thermal industries. It has very low density with some elements that make them enhance performance of composites.

Characterization of woven fabric composites