Influence of finish treatment on the durability of aramid fibres aged under an alkaline environment
Résumé
Aramid fibres are high performance materials which have been used in ropes and protective clothing for many years. They are also now being proposed in geotextiles for ground reinforcement. The influence of the surface finish composition and content has been studied in the field of cables and textiles, but there is no published data concerning the effect of a finish treatment on the hydrolytic degradation. Aramid fibres with different finish contents have been aged in an alkaline environment. The degradation has been identified by FTIR, viscosimetry, TGA, SEM and tensile tests. For Technora fibres, the presence of finish appears to limit the tensile strength loss of aramid fibres at pH11 by limiting abrasion, as well as bulk and surface degradation. For Twaron fibres, higher finish content only has a slight influence on the fibres durability at pH11 and pH9, by limiting abrasion and bulk degradation.