A Study on flexural properties of wildcane grass fiber-reinforced polyester composites |
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Authors: | A V Ratna Prasad K Mohana Rao A V S S K S Gupta B V Reddy |
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Affiliation: | (1) Department of Mechanical Engineering, V R Siddhartha Engineering College, Vijayawada, 520 007, India;(2) Department of Mechanical Engineering, JNTU College of Engineering, Hyderabad, 500 072, India;(3) Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Canada |
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Abstract: | The main objective of this study is to introduce a new natural fiber as reinforcement in polymers for making composites. Wildcane
grass stalk fibers were extracted from its stem using retting and chemical (NaOH) extraction processes. These fibers were
treated with KMnO4 solution to improve adhesion with matrix. The resulting fibers were intentionally reinforced in a polyester matrix unidirectionally,
and the flexural properties of the composite were determined. The fibers extracted by retting process have a tensile strength
of 159 MPa, modulus of 11.84 GPa, and an effective density of 0.844 g/cm3. The composites were formulated up to a maximum fiber volume fraction of 0.39, resulting in a flexural strength of 99.17 MPa
and flexural modulus of 3.96 GPa for wildcane grass fibers extracted by retting. The flexural strength and the modulus of
chemically extracted wildcane grass fiber composites have increased by approximately, 7 and 17%, respectively compared to
those of composites made from fibers extracted by retting process. The flexural strength and the modulus of KMnO4-treated fiber composites have increased by 12 and 76% over those of composites made from fibers extracted by retting process
and decreased by 3 and 48% over those of composites made from fibers extracted by chemical process, respectively. The results
of this study indicate that wildcane grass fibers have potential as reinforcing fillers in plastics in order to produce inexpensive
materials with high toughness. |
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