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INVESTIGATION OF SISAL FABRIC DENSITY ON MECHANICAL

PROPERTIES OF POLYMER COMPOSITES

S. BALACHANDAR 1 & R. I. SATHYA 2 1PAC Ramasamy Raja Polytechnic College, Rajapalayam, Tamil Nadu, India

2Gandhigram Rural Institute, Deemed University, Gandhigram, Dindigul, Chinnalapatti, Tamil Nadu, India

ABSTRACT

Manufacturing of natural fibre reinforced Polymer composites exhibit comparative mechanical properties with

glass fibre composites. Due to this reason these categories of composites replace the synthetic fibre composites in all the

industrial application. Few of the natural fibres such as sisal, jute and hemp possess higher specific strength, lightweight,

biodegradability and low cost. In this study, sisal fiber reinforced epoxy composites prepared with varying areal density of

the woven fabric and their mechanical properties such as tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength were

evaluated. The Sisal fabric composites were prepared with four different fabricGSM and the influence of fabric areal

density on mechanical properties were studied. It is concluded that up to 650 GSM fabric areal density the tensile

properties were increasing after that there would be the reduction in mechanical properties, which is attributed that the

increase in fibre volume fraction will leads to increase in composites mechanical properties and then reduced.

KEYWORDS: Sisal Fiber, Glass Fiber, Silicon Carbide, Epoxy, Polymers, Hand Layup, Mechanical Property

INTRODUCTION

A Composite material is defined as combination of two or more constituents to give unique properties in the

resultant material. The word composite is not new to this world, nature has created many notable composite structure.

As Stated by Silva(2003) the development of Composites reinforced with natural fibersis a sustainable alternative material

for engineering applications, particularly in mechanical, aerospace applications and automobile applications (Silva

RV,2003). Natural fibers display superior mechanical properties such as strength, stiffness, flexibility and high modulus

compared to glass fibers (Goulart S.A.Set al, 2011). As per Joshi SV et al(2004) the important advantages of natural fibers

are of low cost, higher availability, light weight, quick extraction and Eco friendly. Composite materials are deliberately

combined to achieve desired characteristics of two or more distinct materials in the composition. Reinforcing fibers in a

composite may be short or long compared to its overall dimensions. The long fibers and short fibers are known as

continuous fibers and discontinuous fibers, respectively. As stated by Silva RV(2003) the natural fibers are abundance and

renewability, low cost, non-abrasiveness, simple process, non-toxicity, high flexibility, acoustic insulation and low density.

On the other hand, there are some drawbacks due to high moisture absorption. Joseph and co-workers (2002) studied the

effect of chemical treatment on dynamic mechanical properties of Sisal fiber reinforced low density polyethylene

composites. It observed that the cardanol derivative of toluene disocyanate treatment reduced the hydrophilic nature of the

sisal fiber due to this reason the tensile properties of the composites were improved, which was attributed that chemical

bonding between the fibre to resin increased. Nevertheless, some machine components which has been previously

manufactured with glass fiberscomposites are now produced with natural fiber reinforced composite.

International Journal of Textile and Fashion Technology (IJTFT) ISSN(P): 2250-2378; ISSN(E): 2319-4510 Vol. 5, Issue 3, Jun 2015, 1-6 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

2 S. Balachandar & R. I. Sathya

Impact Factor (JCC): 3.3497 Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0

N. Venkateshwaran et.al (2011) studied the mechanical and water absorption behavior of banana/sisal reinforced

hybrid composites. They observed that the influence of fiber length and weight percentage increases the tensile modulus

and impact strength of the composites.

Kai Yang et.al (2010) studied the difference i n thermal conductivity of single fibre reinforced composites to

hybrid composites and concluded that hybrid fibre composites obtain higher thermal conductivity. Ramesh Met al(2013)

concluded from their research that Sisal /GFRP composites sample passes good tensile strength and Jute/GFRP composites

specimen showed the maximum flexural load. The maximum strength is achieved when the fiber length in the laminate is

equal to the critical fiber length. The mechanical strength of the composites depends on the type of fiber matrix, fiber

length, fiber orientation, fiber concentration and the bonding between the fiber and matrix (M. Ramesh et al, 2010). A.

Gowthami et.al.(2012) studied the effect of silica on sisal fiber reinforced polyester composites, the result shows that the

tensile strength of composite with silica is 1.5 times greater the normal composites. Hemalata Jenaet.al. concluded from

their research that effect of bamboo fiber composite filled with cenosphere, result show that the impact property the

composite is highly influenced by the addition of cenospherer and the impact strength is also increased due to this filler

addition. After wards the mechanical properties were decreased (Hemalata Jena,2012). According to S. Husseinsyah et.al.

effect of filler content on mechanical properties of coconut shell reinforced polyestercomposites, high filler content affect

the strength of the composites. Furher they studied the morphology of the composites indicate that the tendency of filler-

matrix interaction improved with the increasing filler in polyester matrix (S.Husseinsyah et al, 2011).

EXPERIMENTAL

Materials Method

In the present investigation Sisal fiber (Agave Sisalana) woven composites were prepared with various GSMat the

weaving laboratory of PACR polytechnic college and Glassfiber (woven mat form). Commercially available epoxy

(LY-556) and hardener (HY-951) received from GVR entreprises, Madurai.

Comparative Properties of Sisal and Glass Fiber

Recent days, there has been a dramatic increase in usage of natural fibre as reinforced for composite application.

Some of the key fibres are listed as sisal, jute, coir, flax, hemp, pineapple and banana etc. Where in the Sisal fiber could be

utilized for making variety of products due to its versatile nature and its availability. Similarly E-glass variety of fiber is

used as reinforcement in the FRP preparation since from the beginning, due to its bulk strength and weight properties.

The following table provides the comparative analysis of Sisal fibre Vs Glass fibre

Table 1: Comparative Analysis of Glass and Sisal Fibre Properties

Physical Properties Glass Fibre Sisal Fibre Density(g/cc) 2.54 1.35 Elangation at break(%) 3.5% 2-3% cellulose content NIL 63-64% Lignin content NIL 5% Tensile strength(Mpa) 3450 54 Young's Moduls(Gpa) 1.9 3.45

Investigation of Sisal Fabric Density on Mechanical Properties of Polymer Composites 3

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Preparation of Composite Specimen

In the present investigation composite materials were fabricated by hand layup process. Woven Sisal mat with

varying areal density such as 550GSM, 600GSM, 650GSM, and 700GSM were cut into the dimensions of 250×250mm

independently and used to prepare four different specimens. The composite specimens consists of totally 12layers of

fabrics samples. A measured amount of epoxy is taken for different volume fraction of fiber and mixed with the hardener

in the ratio of 10:1. The layers of fabric were fabricated by adding the required amount of epoxy resin. First Sisal fabric

layer placed on mould and then epoxy resin is applied on it. Before the resin gets dried, the second layer of fabric was

layered. The process was repeated till twelve layers of fabrics. The epoxy resin applied was distributed to the entire surface

by means of a hand roller. The air gaps formed between the layers during the processing were squeezed out. The processed

wet composite were then pressed hard and the excess resin is removed and dried. Finally these specimens were taken to

hydraulic press to force the air present in between the fibers and resin, and then kept for seven hours to get the perfect

samples. After the composite material thoroughly dried, it was taken out from the hydraulic press and raw edges were

neatly cut and removed.

CHARACTERIZATION

The manufactured composites were taken for characterization to understand the influence of the fabric areal

density of reinforcement. The different specimens was tested with tensile (Figure 1), flexural (Figure 2) and impact testing

(Figure 3) and the results are given in Table 2. The Tensile test is conducted by using Universal Testing Machine

(UTM).Three samples have been tested and based on ASTM D3039 standard, the tensile test samples were cut and the test

has been conducted until the sample fails

Table 2: Tensile Behavior of Sisal Fabric Reinforced Composites

Sample (Fabric Density)

Tensile Strength(N/Mm2)

Flexural Strength(Mpa)

Impact Strength(Kj/M2)

550 18 22 21 600 22 34 24 650 35 42 31 700 24 31 22

Tensile Properties

The composite samples were tested in the UTM and stress-strain curve was plotted. The typical graph generated

directly from machine for tensile testing of sisal composite.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

In this study Sisal fabric areal density and its effect on tensile, flexural and impact properties are evaluated. The

UTM results were plotted as following graph

4 S. Balachandar & R. I. Sathya

Impact Factor (JCC): 3.3497 Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0

Figure 1: Stress-Strain Graphs Plotted Against Tensile Testing of Sisal Composites with Varying Areal Density of the Fabric

From the above graphs were automatic generated stress/ strain curve from UTM for four different graphs

indicated for four different sisal composite samples of varying area density of reinforcement such as 550GSM, 600GSM,

650GSM and 700GSM. It is understood from the graphs that the maximum tensile reading was achieved at 650 GSM sisal

fibre composite.

Investigation of Sisal Fabric Density on Mechanical Properties of Polymer Composites 5

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Figure 2: Stress-Strain Graphs Plotted Against Flexural Testing of Sisal Composites with Varying Areal Density of the Fabric

From the above graphs indicated for four different sisal composite samples of varying density such as 550GSM,

600GSM, 650GSM and 700GSM. It is understood from the graphs that the maximum flexural reading was achieved at 650

GSM sisal fibre composite.

IMPACT PROPERTIES

For analysing the impact property of the different specimens an impact test is carried out. Impact test carried out.

Charpy impact tester was used for this study. The energy loss is obtained from the Charpy impact machine. The impact

response in Sisal composites of Cwas presented. It is understood from the graphs that the maximum impactlreading was

achieved at 650 GSM sisal fibre composite

CONCLUSIONS

• The Sisal fabric reinforced composite specimens were prepared and subjected to Tensile, Flexural and impact

loadings.From the experimental results following observations can be made.

• The sisal composite samples possess good tensile strength and can withstand the strength up to the fabric gsm of

650 after that the reduction in tensile properties were shown.

6 S. Balachandar & R. I. Sathya

Impact Factor (JCC): 3.3497 Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0

• The reduction in Tensile properties were attributed that due to increase in fibre volume fraction.

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