REGULATING THE PERCENTAGE OF MATRIX CONTENT IN COMPOSITE MATERIALS BY UHMW PE MODIFICATION USING A LOW-ENERGY ION FLOW

The possibility of regulating the content of composite material components that is polymer matrix (PM) and reinforcing filler is revealed. It found out that weak interfacial adhesion between reinforcing fibers and a polymer matrix leads to getting a polymer composite material (PCM) with low physical and mechanical characteristics. To eliminate this drawback, a method of influencing reinforcing materials is chosen – a low-energy ion flow at reduced pressure, which makes it possible to improve their capillary wettability, create conditions for strong interaction with the matrix, and regulate the PM–reinforcing filler ratio. Therefore, an urgent task is to study the ratio of PCM components in order to reduce the weight of composite products while maintaining their strength characteristics. Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW PE) fibers such as D800 and PCM based on UHMW PE and ED-20 epoxy resin are selected as research objects. A study of the wettability of UHMW PE fiber surface by spreading time of epoxy resin drop has shown that after exposure to the low-energy ion flow, the interaction of the polymer binder with the fibrous material increases due to activation of its surface when additional functional groups appear. Modification of the low-energy ion flow leads to an increase in the capillarity of UHMW PE material, the height of epoxy resin increases by more than 5 times due to the appearance of hydroxyl groups on the surface of the material. The thermomechanical characteristics of PCM with varying polymer matrix content have shown that the use of modified low-energy ion flow and UHMW PE materials as reinforcing components can reduce the binder content by 10%, while increasing the thermal stability of the composite by 5.5%. The mechanical characteristics of PCM based on modified UHMW PE materials have increased values. The conducted studies allowed to find out that the use of low-energy ion flow makes it possible to reduce the binder content in PCM and at the same time obtain the best mechanical characteristics.