Natural Fibre Sheet Moulding Compounds: Manufacturing and Fire Performance

摘要

Sheet Moulding Compounds (SMC) are composed of chopped fibre and unsaturated polyester (UP) resin system.This paper investigated the SMC manufacturing process by using natural hemp fibre as reinforcement.Followed its mechanical and fire performance was evaluated and reported through a comparison of natural fibre SMC with the glass fibre SMC.It is found that the natural fibre SMC produced equivalent mechanical properties up to tensile strength over 40 MPa and Yang’s modulus over 14 GPa;and Heat Release Rate under 150 kWm-2 by using Cone Calorimeter.