MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SUGARCANE FIBER POLYMER

COMPOSITE

BYGOKUL K

RA1412004010022SRM UNIVERSITY

ABSTRACT

• REINFORCEMENT WITH NATURAL FIBRE IN COMPOSITES HAS RECENTLY GAINED ATTENTION DUE TO LOW COST, LOW DENSITY, ACCEPTABLE SPECIFIC PROPERTIES, EASE OF SEPARATION, ENHANCED ENERGY RECOVERY, BIO DEGRADABILITY AND RECYCLABLE NATURE.

• A HYBRID-NATURAL FIBRE COMPOSITE IS CREATED USING A COMBINATION OF SUGARCANE FIBRE, GLASS FIBRE, JUTE FIBRE, SAW DUST AND WOOD CHIPS ARE USED ALONG WITH POLYESTER RESIN. THESE COMPOSITES ARE THEN EXPERIMENTALLY TESTED UPON USING TENSILE AND IMPACT TEST.

INTRODUCTION

• THE USE OF NATURAL FIBRES AS REINFORCEMENTS FOR COMPOSITE HAS ATTRACTING MORE INTEREST OF INDUSTRIES FIBBERS REINFORCED POLYMER COMPOSITES HAVE MANY APPLICATIONS AS CLASS OF STRUCTURAL MATERIALS BECAUSE OF THEIR EASE OF FABRICATION, RELATIVELY LOW COST AND SUPERIOR MECHANICAL PROPERTIES COMPARED TO POLYMER RESINS. FOR EXAMPLE IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY, THE EFFORT TO REDUCE WEIGHT IN ORDER TO IMPROVE FUEL ECONOMY AND TO COMPLY WITH TIGHTER GOVERNMENTAL REGULATIONS ON SAFETY AND EMISSION HAS LED TO THE INTRODUCTION OF INCREASING AMOUNTS OF PLASTICS AND COMPOSITES MATERIALS IN PLACE OF THE TRADITIONALLY USED STEELS

• NATURAL FIBRES HAVE DIFFERENT ORIGINS SUCH AS WOOD, PULP, COTTON, BARK, BAGASSE, BAMBOO, CEREAL STRAW, AND VEGETABLE (E.G., FLAX, JUTE, HEMP, SISAL, AND RAMIE). THESE FIBRES ARE MAINLY MADE OF CELLULOSE, HEMICELLULOSES, LIGNIN AND PECTIN’S, WITH A SMALL QUANTITY OF EXTRACTIVES.

• ALSO THE NATURAL FIBRES PRESENT SOME DRAWBACKS, SUCH AS THE INCOMPATIBILITY BETWEEN FIBRES AND POLYMER MATRICES, THE TENDENCY TO FORM AGGREGATES DURING PROCESSING AND THE POOR RESISTANCE TO MOISTURE, REDUCE THE USE OF NATURAL FIBRES AS REINFORCEMENTS IN POLYMERS.

MATERIALS PREPARATIONFIBRE PREPARATION:• TWO TYPES OF FIBRES WERE USED IN THIS STUDY TO REINFORCE

POLYESTER COMPOSITE, NAMELY SUGARCANE FIBRE (SCF) AS A NATURAL FIBRE AND GLASS FIBRE (GF) AS A SYNTHETIC FIBRE. COMPARED TO SYNTHETIC FIBRE, BAGASSE FIBRE HAS TWO ADVANTAGES, LIGHT WEIGHT AND RENEWABILITY. CONVERTING THE WASTE BAGASSE INTO VALUE-ADDED-INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS SUCH AS LIQUID FUELS, FEEDSTOCK, ENZYMES AND ACTIVATED CARBON HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY SUGGESTED. THE PREPARATION OF THE SCFS BEGINS AFTER CRUSHING THE SUGARCANE STALK AND EXTRACTING THE SUCROSE (SUGAR JUICE). THEN THE BAGASSE FIBRE WAS WASHED WITH WATER REPEATEDLY THEN IMMEDIATELY AND BEFORE THE FIBRES BECOMES DRY, THE SCFS WERE FIRST SEPARATED FROM UNDESIRABLE FOREIGN MATTER AND SIFTED MANUALLY FROM RETTING FIBRE BUNDLES.

RESIN• UNSATURATED POLYESTER HAS BEEN A POPULAR THERMOSET USED AS A

POLYMER MATRIX IN COMPOSITES. THIS TYPE OF RESIN IS A RIGID, LOW REACTIVITY, THIXOTROPIC GENERAL-PURPOSE ORTHOPHTHALIC UNSATURATED POLYESTER RESIN. IT IS PRE-PROMOTED FOR AMBIENT TEMPERATURE CURE WITH ADDITION OF METHYL ETHYL KETONE PEROXIDE (MEKP) AS CATALYST. IT IS CONVENIENT FOR HAND LAY-UP APPLICATIONS AND EASY AIR RELEASE. UNSATURATED POLYESTER POSSESSES MANY ADVANTAGES COMPARED TO OTHER THERMOSETTING RESINS INCLUDING ROOM TEMPERATURE CURE CAPABILITY, GOOD MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND TRANSPARENCY, LOW PRESSURE MOULDING CAPABILITIES WHICH MAKE IT PARTICULARLY VALUABLE FOR LARGE COMPONENT MANUFACTURE AT RELATIVELY LOW COST. CURING OF UNSATURATED POLYESTER IS DUE TO A POLYMERISATION REACTION THAT CAUSES CROSS-LINKING AMONG INDIVIDUAL LINEAR POLYMER CHAINS. IN CONTRAST TO OTHER THERMOSETTING RESINS, NO BY-PRODUCT IS FORMED DURING THE CURING REACTION; HENCE RESINS CAN BE CAST MOULDED, AND LAMINATED AT LOW PRESSURES AND TEMPERATURES.

SUGARCANE FIBER

JUTE FIBER

GLASS FIBER

PREPARATION OF MATERIAL IN DIFFERENT LAYERSS. No Description Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3

1. Top layer Glass fibre 2 no’s

Glass fibre 1 no Glass fibre 1 no

2. Second layer Jute fibre 2 no’s Jute fibre 1 no Sugar cane fibre

3. Middle layer Sugar cane fibre

Sugar cane fibre

Jute fibre 1 no

4. Third layer Jute fibre 2 no’s Jute fibre 1 no Sugar cane fibre

5. Bottom layer Glass fibre 2 no’s

Glass fibre 1 no Glass fibre 1 no

FINAL PRODUCT

SAMPLE PIECES FOR TENSILE TEST

SAMPLE PIECES FOR IZOD IMPACT TEST

DURING TENSILE TEST UNDER UTM

DURING IZOD TEST

SAMPLES AFTER TENSILE TEST

SAMPLE FOR IZOD TEST

RESULTS FOR TENSILE TESTDESCRIPTION

SAMPLE 1 SAMPLE 2 SAMPLE 3

Load at Yield 7.46 kN 7.42 kN 5.16 kN

Yield Stress 45.253 N/mm2 58.175 N/mm2 37.332 N/mm2

Ultimate Strength

56.657 N/mm2 73.071 N/mm2 66.994 N/mm2

Breaking Strength

19.290 N/mm2 72.914 N/mm2 62.364 N/mm2

RESULTS FOR IZOD TESTDESCRIPTION SAMPLE 1 SAMPLE 2

Energy Absorbed 8 joule 2 joule

CONCLUSION• IN RECENT DECADES, MOST RESEARCH GLOBALLY WIDE WERE CONCERNED WITH THE DIFFERENT METHODS OF INCORPORATING NATURAL FIBERS SUCH AS BAGASSE INTO VARIOUS TYPES OF POLYMER COMPOSITIONS, IN ORDER TO MODIFY THEIR PROPERTIES AND TO DECREASE THEIR COSTS. THE APPLICATIONS OF BAGASSE IN FORMING OF POLYMER COMPOSITES WERE FOCUSED ON THE BINDING OF THE NATURAL FIBERS WITH POLYESTER RESIN THAT CAN INCREASE THE STRENGTH OF BAGASSE FIBRE BOARD.

• TENSILE TEST AND IMPACT TEST WERE CONDUCTED ON THE DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS OF THE FIBRE COMPOSITE. THE RESULTS SHOWS THAT THE STRENGTH OF THE COMPOSITE INCREASED WITH DECREASING OF BAGASSE FIBER AND INCREASE IN BAGASSE RESULTED IN INCREASE IN FLEXURAL AND TENSILE STRENGTH. THE COMBINATION OF SHORT FIBER AND SAW DUST GRANULES GAVE MORE STRENGTH COMPARED WITH BOARD THAT ONLY USED SHORT FIBER AS A MATRIX.

CONCLUSION

• THE FUTURE OF BAGASSE FIBER COMPOSITES APPEARS TO BE BRIGHT BECAUSE THEY ARE CHEAPER, LIGHTER AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUPERIOR TO GLASS FIBER OR OTHER SYNTHETIC FIBER COMPOSITES IN GENERAL. FUTURE RESEARCH SHOULD HENCE FOCUS ON ACHIEVING EQUIVALENT OR SUPERIOR TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE AND COMPONENT LIFE.

REFERENCES

• E. F. CERQUEIRAA*, C. A. R. P. BAPTISTAB, D. R. MULINARIA-AUNIFOA, AV. PAULO ERLEI ALVES ABRANTES 1325 TRÊS POÇOS, VOLTA REDONDA, BRAZIL B DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS ENGINEERING, EEL/USP - UNIVERSITY OF SÃO PAULO, LORENA/SP, BRAZIL

• N.S.M. EL-TAYEB - FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY, FET, MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY, MMU, MELAKA, MALAYSIA RECEIVED 24 JANUARY 2007; RECEIVED IN REVISED FORM 9 OCTOBER 2007; ACCEPTED 9 OCTOBER 2007