Effect of Hygrothermal Aging and Surface Treatment on the Dynamic Mechanical Behavior of Flax Fiber Reinforced Composites

The recent developments of FRP (fiber reinforced polymer) are towards the growth and usage of natural FRP in the field of engineering due to both environmental and economic benefits. Flax fiber is one of the most commonly used natural fibers. One of the critical factors affecting the mechanical behavior of FFRP (flax fiber reinforced polymer) is hygrothermal aging. Some experimental works have been conducted to investigate the effect of hydrothermal aging on static behavior of FFRP. However, fewer efforts have been made to study its damping properties after hydrothermal aging. In this paper, the effect of surface treatment (including alkalization, silanization, acetylation and alkali-silanization) on dynamic mechanical behavior of FFRP under hygrothermal aging is studied. The results show that water resistance and damping properties of FFRP are improved after surface treatment. The acetylation treated FFRP exhibits excellent damping performance among all treated specimens.