Elastic and viscoelastic behavior of filament wound polyethylene fiber reinforced polyolefin composites

Filament wound flat strip composites of polyethylene fiber reinforced polyolefins arepresented and studied. The versatility of this product is demonstrated by involving different polyolefin compositions based on ethylene-butene copolymers with a range of fiber volume fractions and various winding angles. The mechanical performance of the composite product agrees with standard theoretical predictions for angle-ply composites, while the dynamic mechanical analysis reflects the viscoelastic nature of the matrix. In particular, the branching density of the polyolefin backbone, expressed by the β-transition peak, dominates the dynamic mechanical behavior. The feasibility of a potential biomedical application is discussed based on process variable optimization, resulting in a specific combination of static and viscoelastic properties.