Research Progress of Flame Retardant Resin Matrix Composites for Ships

The poor flame retardant properties of composites limit their application in ship structures. The flame retardant property of the resin matrix composites mainly depends on that of the resin itself. We summarize and study three kinds of resin matrices for composite materials. Vinyl resins have been widely used in the field of ships, however, in some occasions where anti-flaming is required, its application is limited. A lot of work has been done on flame retardant vinyl resins by industrial and academic worlds. The addition of phosphorus-containing cage polysesquioxane (POSS) flame retardant can significantly improve its flame retardant performance, and the heat resistance and mechanical properties as well. Phenolic resin is a kind of resin with high flame retardant property. It can be used to prepare glass fiber or carbon fiber reinforced prepreg through various impregnation processes, which can be processed into composite materials with good mechanical properties and excellent flame retardant properties by molding or autoclave processes. The glass fiber reinforced phenolic foam composite prepared by foaming process has good mechanical properties and flame retardant properties while it has light weight. Phthalonitrile resin is also a resin with excellent flame retardant performance, and the heat release rates of the glass fiber and carbon fiber reinforced phthalonitrile composite materials can meet the submarine material heat release rate standard required by MIL-STD-2031 of the US military. The smoke density of the glass fiber reinforced phthalonitrile composites is much lower than that of the common resin composites. The excellent flame retardant properties and mechanical properties of the flame retardant vinyl resin, phenolic resin and cyanogen resin make have good application prospect in the surface ships and submarine parts.