The effect of fibre treatment on water absorption and mechanical properties of buri palm (Corypha utan) fibre reinforced epoxy composites

Over the past century, there has been a dramatic increase in natural fibre composites in which natural fibre has served as reinforcement in polymer. However, the existence of moisture and defects in natural fibres has impacted the mechanical and physical properties of natural fibre polymer composites. The main objective of this study is to fabricate the buri palm fibre reinforced epoxy composite and evaluate the effects of fibre treatment on water absorption and tensile properties. The buri palm fibre were treated by using 5 wt.% NaOH for 24 h and the laminated composite of untreated and treated four-layer and five layer fibres were fabricated via hand lay-up process. The tensile specimens are prepared according to the ASTM D638 standard and the water absorption experiment was conducted by immersing the specimen in distilled water at room temperature until it reached the saturated moisture absorption. The results revealed that the percentage of moisture uptake was reduced to 69% and 95% in treated four-layer and five�layer sequences. It is observed that the thickness swelling of the composite increased with the increase of sequence layering, while the thickness swelling decreased with treated fibre. Alkali treatment affected the properties of buri palm fibre which improved the interfacial bonding between the fibre and epoxy matrix for better tensile properties and reduced water absorption. Finally, morphology examinations were carried out to analyse the fracture behaviour and fibre failure on the tensile test specimen by using microscope analysis

Effect of surface modification on mechanical properties of buri palm (corypha utan) fibre composite reinforcement

Natural fibre materials are replacing synthetic fibre materials since they are considered as a low-cost, lightweight, and biodegradability engineering materials with a good specific strength. However, the effects of some process and geometrical parameters (such as fibre type, size, and concentration, and chemical modification) on the strength of the final natural composite product are not well documented. The purpose of the research is to analyse the physical and mechanical properties of single-strand buri palm fibre under different conditions and surface modification. The buri palm fibre was treated using 5 wt.% and 10 wt.% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) with a duration of 1 and 24 h immersion throughout the whole process. For a single-strand test, the samples were carefully extracted from the corresponding woven fibre by hand. While the woven buri palm fibre composite was fabricated by employing 4 and 5-layering sequences in the hand lay�up technique followed by the compression method. The buri palm fibre showed that a higher concentration of NaOH solution and immersion period led to a lower density. The effectiveness of the alkali treatment in the removal of cellulose and hemicellulose from the fibre strands was verified by chemical composition in FTIR investigation. The highest tensile strength of 159.16 MPa was indicated from the result of single-strand treated with 5 wt.% NaOH for 24 h immersion. This treatment was found as the most appropriate treatment and is employed to fabricate both 4-layer and 5-layer stacking sequence composite. The 5-layer treated composite gives the highest tensile strength and flexural strength of 33.51 MPa and 56.72 MPa, respectively. In conclusion, the mechanical properties increased with the addition of each sequence layering treated fibres in the composite. The obtained results indicate that the utilisation of buri palm fibre as a reinforcement in the epoxy composite can be used in the lightweight and moderate load applications, such as the interior parts in the automotive industry

Characterisation of the woven fabric of jute, ramie and roselle for reinforcement material for polymer composite

The current research aims to describe the natural woven of jute, ramie and roselle as a reinforcement material for the future applications. On the woven jute, ramie and roselle, four (4) forms of mechanical testing were conducted consisting of grab strength, tearing strength, puncture strength, and fibre pull-out testing. Additionally, the unsaturated polyester resin (UPE) was reinforced with all the woven fabric to determine its effect on the properties of the tensile. The test result for jute and ramie is 103.5N and 137.9N from multiple fiber pull-out, so more force is required in the warp direction to pull the fiber out than in the weft direction which is 102.5N and 124.3N. The result of grab test is opposite from multiple fibre pull-out test. Woven fabric in weft direct required more force which is about 1.4-29.2%. Less than 115N needed for splitting ramie in warp and weft direction compared jute and roselle fabric. The different energy provided by rosselle compared to jute and ramie fabric is 1-1.5Nm based on the puncture resistance test. Result of fibre reinforced UPE is obtained are in range of 21.4 - 27.9MPa which analogous to yarn and textile testing

Effect of water absorption behaviour on tensile properties of hybrid jute-roselle woven fibre reinforced polyester composites

Incorporating natural fibre as reinforcement in the polymer matrix has shown a negative effect since the natural fibre is hydrophilic. The natural fibre easily absorbs water which causes an effect on the mechanical properties of the composites. The objective of this paper is to investigate the water absorption behaviour of hybrid jute-roselle woven fibre reinforced unsaturated polyester composite and the effect of water absorption in terms of tensile strength and tensile modulus. The effect of hybrid composite on the thickness swelling will be tested. The fabrication method used in this study is the hand lay-up technique to fabricate 2-layer and 3-layer composites with layering sequences of woven jute (J)/roselle (Ro) fibre. The results of the study showed that pure roselle fibres for 2 and 3-layer composites have the highest water absorption behaviour 3.86% and 5.51%, respectively, in 28 days) as well as thickness swelling effect, whereas hybrid J-Ro and J-J-Ro composites showed the least water absorption (2.65% and 3.76%, respectively) in 28 days) in both the tests. The hybridisation between jute and roselle fibres reduced water absorption behaviour and improved the fibres dimensional stability. The entire composites showed a decreasing trend for both tensile strength and tensile modulus strength after five weeks of water immersion. Jute fibre composite hybridised with roselle fibre can be used to reduce the total reduction of both tensile strength and tensile modulus throughout the whole immersion period. Moreover, the tensile testing showed that jute fibre composite hybridised with roselle fibre have produced the strongest composite with the highest tensile and modulus strength compared to other types of composites. The hybridisation of diverse fibre reinforcements aids in minimising the composite water absorption and thickness swelling, hence reducing the effect of tensile characteristics

Effect of fabric orientations on mechanical properties of hybrid jute-ramie reinforced unsaturated polyester composites

Jute and ramie fibre received significant attention from the researcher around the globe due to the excellent performance as reinforcement materials for the composite. The present work study the influence of the fabric orientation and layering sequence on the hybrid woven jute-ramie reinforced unsaturated polyester resin (UPE) on mechanical properties (tensile, flexural and impact). The composite sample was prepared via a hand lay-up method with a compression machine. Four (4) different orientation ready for the composite sample consists of 0 laminate, [0°/0°/0°/0°], cross-ply [0°/90°/90°/0]° laminate, angle-ply laminate [45°/-45°/45°/-45°] and quasi-isotropic laminate [0°/45°/-45°/90°]. Based on the finding on the current research, the effect of orientation for hybrid woven jute-ramie is apparent on the tensile testing — nonetheless, the influence of the woven orientation for flexural testing and charpy impact testing. Based on the tensile testing, the composite with the woven orientation of cross-ply yield the highest average tensile strength compared to the other composite. In the case of tensile modulus, the composite sample becoming more ductile when arranged to the orientation of angle-ply laminate and quasi-isotropic laminate. For the flexural testing and charpy impact testing, the entire composite yield almost similar value regardless of the type of woven arrangement

The effect of fibre treatment on water absorption and mechanical properties of buri palm (corypha utan) fibre reinforced epoxy composites

Over the past century, there has been a dramatic increase in natural fibre composites in which natural fibre has served as reinforcement in polymer. However, the existence of moisture and defects in natural fibres has impacted the mechanical and physical properties of natural fibre polymer composites. The main objective of this study is to fabricate the buri palm fibre reinforced epoxy composite and evaluate the effects of fibre treatment on water absorption and tensile properties. The buri palm fibre were treated by using 5 wt.% NaOH for 24 h and the laminated composite of untreated and treated four-layer and five layer fibres were fabricated via hand lay-up process. The tensile specimens are prepared according to the ASTM D638 standard and the water absorption experiment was conducted by immersing the specimen in distilled water at room temperature until it reached the saturated moisture absorption. The results revealed that the percentage of moisture uptake was reduced to 69% and 95% in treated four-layer and five-layer sequences. It is observed that the thickness swelling of the composite increased with the increase of sequence layering, while the thickness swelling decreased with treated fibre. Alkali treatment affected the properties of buri palm fibre which improved the interfacial bonding between the fibre and epoxy matrix for better tensile properties and reduced water absorption. Finally, morphology examinations were carried out to analyse the fracture behaviour and fibre failure on the tensile test specimen by using microscope analysis

Effect of surface modification on mechanical properties of buri palm (Corypha Utan) fibre composite reinforcement

Natural fibre materials are replacing synthetic fibre materials since they are considered as a low-cost, lightweight, and biodegradability engineering materials with a good specific strength. However, the effects of some process and geometrical parameters (such as fibre type, size, and concentration, and chemical modification) on the strength of the final natural composite product are not well documented. The purpose of the research is to analyse the physical and mechanical properties of single-strand buri palm fibre under different conditions and surface modification. The buri palm fibre was treated using 5 wt.% and 10 wt.% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) with a duration of 1 and 24 h immersion throughout the whole process. For a single-strand test, the samples were carefully extracted from the corresponding woven fibre by hand. While the woven buri palm fibre composite was fabricated by employing 4 and 5-layering sequences in the hand lay-up technique followed by the compression method. The buri palm fibre showed that a higher concentration of NaOH solution and immersion period led to a lower density. The effectiveness of the alkali treatment in the removal of cellulose and hemicellulose from the fibre strands was verified by chemical composition in FTIR investigation. The highest tensile strength of 159.16 MPa was indicated from the result of single-strand treated with 5 wt.% NaOH for 24 h immersion. This treatment was found as the most appropriate treatment and is employed to fabricate both 4-layer and 5-layer stacking sequence composite. The 5-layer treated composite gives the highest tensile strength and flexural strength of 33.51 MPa and 56.72 MPa, respectively. In conclusion, the mechanical properties increased with the addition of each sequence layering treated fibres in the composite. The obtained results indicate that the utilisation of buri palm fibre as a reinforcement in the epoxy composite can be used in the lightweight and moderate load applications, such as the interior parts in the automotive industry

Mechanical properties of hybrid sugar palm/ramie fibre reinforced epoxy composites

There has been a dramatic increase in natural fibre composites over the past century when natural fibre has performed well as polymer reinforcement. The present study was conducted on the mechanical properties of reinforced epoxy hybrid composites on sugar palm fibre (SPF) (long fibre)/ramie fibre (woven). The hybridizing effect of sugar palm (S) and ramie (R) fibres at different weight ratios was studied at S: R = 15:10 and R:S = 15:10, and thus maintaining the total fibre load by 25% in weight. The composite hybrid specimen consisted of five layers of fibre was prepared alternately. The mechanical properties of composites were analysed by tensile and flexural tests, respectively. The result showed that the tensile and flexural strength of five layer ramie composite was greater than the five-layer SPF composite. On the RSRSR hybrid composite with higher tensile (52.66 MPa) and flexural (80.70 MPa) strength properties among the five-layer SPF and SRSRS hybrid composites, positive hybridisation effects were observed. Since studies on hybrid composite reinforced long fibre SPF were combined with ramie woven reinforced epoxy to improve mechanical performance, the aim to achieve a green composite has become successful