Study on tearing strength of woven sisal fabrics for tents and polymer composite applications

The use of plant fibers as a reinforcement in composites has increased daily owing to their favorable environmental considerations. Fabric properties play a significant role in alignment during composites processing, enhancing the composite properties. However, the fabric structures are formed by warp and weft yarns. These yarns are subjected to axial and shear loads, respectively. However, very limited work has been carried out on the study involving the tearing strength of the fabric. So it is necessary to study the effect of the tearing load of fabrics before converting them into composites. This paper focuses on the tearing strength of the sisal woven fabrics in both warp and weft directions. Two plain and one weftrib fabrics are prepared using sisal fibers, and their physical properties were characterized as per textile testing standards. Tear strength has been determined by Elmendorf Tear and Single Rip Tear Method by varying crosshead speeds. The result shows that woven patterns and number yarns significantly impact tearing strength. In the case of the weft rib pattern, the warp direction exhibits the highest tearing strength compared to the weft direction. Also, in the case of weftrib fabrics, the weft direction indicates better-tearing strength than another woven pattern