Fatigue life and residual strength of a short- natural-fiber-reinforced plastic vs Nylon

Published Date
Composites Part B: Engineering
1 February 2017, Vol.110:429–441, doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2016.11.036

• Author 

• M. Mejri ^a,b
• L. Toubal ^a,,
• J.C. Cuillière ^b
• V. François ^b

• aLaboratory of Mechanics and Eco-Materials (LMEM), Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 3351 boul. Des Forges, C.P.500, G9A 5H7, Québec, Canada
• bÉquipe de Recherche en Intégration Cao-CAlcul (ERICCA), Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 3351 boul. Des Forges, C.P.500, G9A 5H7, Québec, Canada

Received 1 September 2016. Revised 14 October 2016. Accepted 15 November 2016. Available online 16 November 2016. 

Highlights

• •
  A new composite made of polyethylene and short birch fibers.
• •
  Foreseen to replace plastics used in spur gears manufacturing (SGM).
• •
  Fatigue behavior defined through the evolution of durability and residual strength.
• •
  No effect of the loading frequency on the high cycle fatigue strength.
• •
  Comparison of static and fatigue properties with those of plastics used in SGM.

Abstract

A new natural fiber composite made of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and short birch fibers (SBF) was developed to replace high-performance thermoplastics (Polyamide) commonly used in gears manufacturing. 3-point flexural quasi-static tests were achieved on bending specimens to assess mechanical properties. Comparison between these results and those of polyamide (PA) and neat polyethylene has showed that the polyethylene reinforced with 40%wt of SBF presents tensile and flexural mechanical properties that are higher than those of the PA11 or the neat polyethylene. After static characterisation, fatigue tests were performed to determine ε-N curves and the evolution of residual strength. Then, the fatigue behavior of the studied composite has been compared with that of PA66 and of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). It has been noticed that polyethylene reinforced with 40%wt of SBF presents a high cycle fatigue strength (HCFS) that is more important than that of PA66 and UHMWPE. Consequently, the studied composite represents a good alternative to replace Nylon in spur gears manufacturing.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

• Fatigue life
• Residual strength
• Natural fibers composite

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• ∗ 
  Corresponding author.

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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