Research team (30)

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Synthesis and Characterization of Hybrid Composites

Project description :

In this research project, we will try to develop plates made of hybrid composites that are reinforced with natural fibers and synthetic fibers. Our goal is to be able to obtain the ideal recipe for making composites with very high mechanical properties while being biodegradable.
The use of natural fibers as reinforcement may have several advantages over synthetic fibers. These advantages can be summed up in a good mechanical property, low production costs, ease of preparation and also by their availability in raw condition. In addition, they are biodegradable and non-toxic.
However, the areas of use of composites, including the aerospace industry, automotive, tire strengthening and rubber products, fiber optic cable systems, the hydrocarbon transportation and storage field, as well as others require the use of tenacious composites and very high mechanical properties. In this case, the use of reinforcement based on synthetic fibers combined with natural fibers becomes essential to increase and improve the mechanical properties of composites. This hybridization or the mixture between natural and synthetic fibers makes possible to retain the biodegradability characteristics in the first place, and secondly the cost of the composites. Indeed, the presence of cellulose in the natural fibers makes the composites biodegradable.
In this research project, we will focus on two major axes. The first concerns the synthesis and characterization of hybrid composites (based on natural fibers and carbide) by using two techniques namely Vacuum infusion molding and self-propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS). The second part concerns the improvement of our process by using the experimental results obtained as input parameters for our finite element simulation and modeling study.