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Mechanical Behavior of Polymer Composites

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Composites and Nanocomposites".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2025 | Viewed by 510

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Interests: polymer-based composites; lignocellulosic fibers; natural fiber-reinforced polymer-based composites; mechanical behavior; fracture analysis; aging of polymers and composites

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Guest Editor
Swedish Centre for Resource Recovery, Faculty of Textiles, Engineering and Business, University of Borås, Borås, Sweden
Interests: polymer-based composites; mechanical behavior; aging of polymers and composites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC-Rio), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Interests: polymer-based composites; lignocellulosic fibers; natural fiber-reinforced polymer-based composites; mechanical behavior; aging of polymers and composites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past few years, polymer science has played a crucial role in an enormous number of research fields, such as, automotive, aerospace, biomedical, sports, and civil engineering, for which new advanced polymeric materials have been developed to overcome the existing daily challenges. This Special Issue on the mechanical behavior of polymer-based composites will contain original research and review papers on key topics, including (but not limited to) the following:

  • Experimental methods in mechanical investigations;
  • Influences of processing on mechanical properties;
  • Impact, fatigue, and damage/failure mechanisms;
  • Mechanical behavior of additively manufactured polymer products;
  • Fracture phenomena and modeling;
  • Multiaxial loading response of polymers;
  • Viscoelastic and viscoplastic characterization and modeling;
  • Application of numerical techniques, including the Finite Element Method;

It is our pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript to this Special Issue “Mechanical Behavior of Polymer Composites”. Full papers and reviews are all welcome.

Prof. Dr. José Roberto Moraes d'Almeida
Prof. Dr. Mikael Skrifvars
Dr. Daniel Carlos Taissum Cardoso
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • polymer composites
  • mechanical behavior
  • mechanical properties
  • modeling and simulation
  • failure mode
  • fracture analysis
  • additive manufacturing
  • durability

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 3370 KiB  
Article
Effect of UV Radiation Exposure and Simulated Particle Erosion Damage on the Mechanical Behavior of Carbon/Glass Hybrid Composites
by Marcello de Vasconcelos Porto Hermanny Tostes and José Roberto Moraes d’Almeida
Polymers 2025, 17(7), 861; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17070861 - 24 Mar 2025
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Abstract
The environments found in space research pose numerous challenges to the materials used in aerospace structures, such as high incidence of ultraviolet radiation (UV) and micrometeorite impacts. Therefore, this work analyzes the combined effects of exposure to UV radiation and damage caused by [...] Read more.
The environments found in space research pose numerous challenges to the materials used in aerospace structures, such as high incidence of ultraviolet radiation (UV) and micrometeorite impacts. Therefore, this work analyzes the combined effects of exposure to UV radiation and damage caused by sandblasting on the mechanical performance of a hybrid composite of epoxy matrix reinforced with carbon and glass fibers to simulate service conditions both in low Earth orbit (LEO) and in exoplanet environments. The blasting was carried out with silica particles with dimensions compatible with those found in the dust of the Martian atmosphere, and the damage produced by these particles has dimensions similar to those observed in several impact/wear events of structures exposed to LEO conditions. A qualitative analysis of the effect of UV radiation carried out by colorimetry showed a significant change in the color of the material, which became more greenish and yellowish. This color change is indicative of degradation processes in the polymer matrix. FT-IR analysis showed an increase in the carbonyl band with increasing aging time, which is consistent with the color change measured in the material. However, the interlaminar shear strength was not affected by UV radiation in the time used in this work. This behavior was attributed to the fact that UV radiation initially causes deterioration only on the surface of the material. From the results of the bending tests, both the three-point bending test and impulse excitation test, it was found that the effect of UV radiation on the elastic modulus of the composites was more important than the effect of blasting damage. It was also observed that initial UV exposure, prior to sandblasting, has a synergistic effect on the deterioration of flexural strength. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanical Behavior of Polymer Composites)
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