Análisis comparativo del índice de inflamabilidad horizontal bajo la norma ISO 3795, entre materiales compuestos de matriz poliéster reforzado con fibras naturales (fibra de cabuya, fibra de chambira, fibra de coco y fibra de totora) frente a la fibra de vidrio

Abstract

Today, the use of composite materials is very common in various professional and industrial applications, so it is necessary to ensure that the materials meet a high level of safety for the end user. Creating composite materials lies in the sole purpose of improving their properties, therefore, in the present investigation it is intended to evaluate and compare the fire resistance of polymer matrix composite materials reinforced with natural fibers (cabuya, chambira, coconut and totora) against a synthetic fiber (fiberglass), allowing us to consider a possible substitution of synthetic materials for environmentally friendly materials, which could open a new market for their commercialization. In order to establish the appropriate percentages for the formation of composite materials, the volumetric fractions of previously carried out titling works were taken into consideration, where the percentages that provide the best characteristics of the material are detailed, having these values, the amount of resin, fiber and catalyst necessary for each configuration was calculated, after that, all these components were placed in the mold sized according to the NTE INEN ISO 3795 standard, applying manual compression on each material, once the process was completed, it was necessary to you have to wait for the curing time and verify that the new material is fully solidified. Once the samples were ready, they were sent to the LIM-UTA Mechanical Research Laboratory, to be tested, finally the combustion rate of each material was obtained, where an average of 3.61 mm/min was recorded for the Cabuya fiber, 6.72 mm/min for the Chambira fiber, 4.91 mm/min for the coconut fiber, 8.46 mm/min for the reed fiber and 9.18 mm/min for the glass fiber. Based on the results, it was possible to determine that the cabuya fiber-reinforced polyester resin composite material with a value equivalent to 3.61 mm/min is the material with the lowest propagation index compared to the other fibers evaluated.