SUPERELASTIC SHAPE MEMORY ALLOY (SMA) FIBER REINFORCED POLYMER COMPOSITES

摘要

The potential of superelastic SMA fibers in enhancing the damping capacity and toughness of thermoset polymer matrix was evaluated. A single fiber winder was designed and built to manufacture a pre-form consisting of 102 mu m diameter SMA fibers aligned parallel to each other. This preform was loaded to varying amounts of pre-strain and impregnated with vinyl ester to manufacture SMA fiber composites with 20 percent fiber volume fraction. The composites were tested using DSC and DMA to evaluate the improvement in damping capacity of the polymer matrix due to the SMA fibers. Tensile and instrumented impact testing were carried out to evaluate the improvement in mechanical properties and toughness. Appreciable improvement was observed in damping, tensile, and impact properties of the polymer matrix due to reinforcement with superelastic SMA fiber, highlighting the advantages of using superelastic SMA fibers in polymer composites.