Hi glass99, I have many books, all purchased in bookdepository, you will not pay delivery, see the sites below, I will send you later more information.
I have also a portuguese pdf book, are you interested of him?
About architecture, I have at home a french book, but I dont remember the name, I will tried to inform you soon.
has a lot of good advice on marine composites, mostly glass, which as you say are closer to civil structures than a lot of books' emphases.
There was a Dutch book on efficient structures which had a big emphasis on practical uses, many of which were civil structures. I've been unable to find my copy. If I do so I'll let you know.
The book I was thinking of is '"LIGHTNESS. THE INEVITABLE RENAISSANCE OF MINIMUM ENERGY STRUCTURES" on the development and application of new lightweight materials and structures. Soon in its fourth edition.' By Hinte and Beukers. Amazing how easy it is to find stuff using Google.
It wasn't specifically about composites but they inevitably featured in it, along with old architectural favourites like tensegrity structures. Where I seem to have lost my copy I can't check how relevant it might be (I last saw it about eight years ago, so my memory of its applicability may be an overestimate).
RPstress: I agree that lightweight stuctures are awesome and I hope inevitable. Composites would be much more inevitable if the resins could be made from non petroloeum raw materials and/or were recyclable. Is it possible to make the epoxies from soy or something?
Development of plant-sourced resins is lagging behind development of natural fibers. bluecomp's web ref (thanks bluecomp) is interesting but a bit short on technical details.
I have seen claims for plant-derived resins that are similar in mechanical properties to polyester.
I suspect (but I've never seen any cost data) that at the moment natural resins are quite expensive compared with petroleum-derived ones, sort of opposite to the case with fibres.
I'm also not sure how natural resin mechanical properties compare with petroleum-derived. Natural fibres are a bit crap, though their specific strength and stiffnesss can just about compete with E-glass if you're very lucky. And although they're cheap E-glass is pretty cheap too. I've seen papers where getting a good bond to a matrix (usually PP or similar) is problematic. Also all the natural fibres suck up water if it's around.
I suspect that a natural fiber/natural resin composite that can compete with E-glass/polyester is a way off.
I think that glass fibers are fine because they are made from sand, and thus not dependent on international diplomacy for their production. They are also theoretically recyclable.
These bioresin folk claim to work with castor oil as an input, which I think is step in the right direction. Noone rides two stroke motorbikes any more, so there must be a surplus of castor oil around the place...
bluecomp: thanks! I had a quick scan of that report and it seems like a nice primer. I am going to have to find a nice client to build something in a biocomposite.
That's a nice report (maybe a touch optimistic about bio?). Thanks bluecomp.
My use of the term 'natural resin' was a bit unwise; 'natural resin' seems to be used for resins produced directly by plants, whereas I meant any resin made somehow from plant products. I assume that if natural oils are used as base hydrocarbon material then potentially chemists could make resins very similar to those we know at the moment(?).
glass99 - if you ever use a true biocomposite (both resin and fibre) do let us know about it with an Eng-Tips helpful tip or similar.
