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Effect of Alkali Treatment on Mechanical Properties of Sisal -Reinforced Epoxy Polymer Matrix Composite

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Effect of Alkali Treatment on Mechanical Properties of Sisal -Reinforced Epoxy Polymer Matrix Composite Int. J. Mech. Eng. & Rob. Res. 2014 S Somashekar and G C Shanthakumar, 2014 ISSN 2278 – 0149 www.ijmerr.com Vol. 3, No. 4, October, 2014 © 2014 IJMERR. All Rights Reserved Research Paper EFFECT OF ALKALI TREATMENT ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SISAL -REINFORCED EPOXY POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITE S Somashekar1* and G C Shanthakumar1 *Corresponding Author: S Somashekar [email protected] The present paper investigates the effect of fibre content and alkali treatment on tensile, flexural and impact properties of unidirectional Sisal fibre natural-fibre-reinforced epoxy composites which are partially biodegradable. The reinforcement sisal fibre fibre was collected from the foliage of locally available sisal bushes through the process of water retting and mechanical extraction. Commonly encountered problem between fibre and matrix is poor adhesion in natural- fibre-reinforced composites. To overcome this problem, specific treatments (physical and chemical) were suggested for surface modification of fibres by investigators. Alkali treatment is one of the simple and effective surface modification technique which is commonly used in natural fibre composites. In the present study both untreated and alkali-treated fibres were used as reinforcement in sisal epoxy composites and the tensile, flexural and impact properties were determined at different fibre contents. The alkali treatment is found to be effective in improving the tensile and flexural properties while the impact strength decreased. Keywords: Sisal fibre, Epoxy resin, Alkali treatment, Mechanical properties INTRODUCTION nature of the plant, locality in which it is The increase in the application of plant fibres grown, age of the plant and extraction method as reinforcement for polymeric substrates has used. Today polymer composites are used been stimulated by the environmental cost for a wide range of applications. However, of manufacturing energy-intensive, synthetic they do not undergo biodegradation easily, fibres such as glass, carbon and kevlar. resulting in generation of solid waste, which However, whereas synthetic fibres can be causes environmental pollution. To meet this produced with engineered properties to suit challenge, researchers are focusing their particular applications this is not the case with attention on producing bio-degradable naturally occurring plant fibres. Properties of composites with natural fibres/fabrics. Such the cellulose fibres depend mainly on the composites are termed as green composites. 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, T. John Institute of Technology, Bangalore- 560 083, India. 441 Int. J. Mech. Eng. & Rob. Res. 2014 S Somashekar and G C Shanthakumar, 2014 L Y Mwaikambo, 1999) studied the effect of in their structure. Moreover, natural fibres chemical treatment on sisal, Jute, hemp, consist of several elementary fibres Kapok etc., several green composites Shin associated with cellulose, hemicellulose, pec- et al., 1989) investigated the mechanical tin, lignin, etc. The mechanical properties of properties of bamboo-epoxy composites. plant fibres are largely related to the amount Joseph et al., 2002) developed phenol of cellulose, which is closely associated with formaldehyde com-posites reinforced with the crystallinity of the fibre and the micro-fibril banana fibres and pineapple leaf fibre angle with respect to the main fibre axis reinforced polyethylene composites have (Sreekala et al., 1997). Fibres with high been de-veloped by George et al., 1998). crystallinity and/or cellulose content have Gomes et al., 2004) inves-tigated the been found to possess superior mechanical influence of Alkali treatment on tensile properties Hence, they can not be considered properties of curaua fibre green composite. as the mono-filament fibres. To remove the unwanted elements from the fibre, specific Natural fibre composites are not only treatments are necessary. Many investigators biodegradable and renewable but also found and reported that the interfacial possess several other advantages such as bonding can be enhanced by the surface lightweight, low cost, high specific strength, modification of the fibre through alkali high modulus, reduced tool wear and safe treatment and treatment with coupling manufacturing pro-cess when compared with agents, which in turn will enhance the overall synthetic fibre composites .Nowadays per- Over synthetic composites. (Alexandre polymer composite are used in construction, Gomes, 2004) studied the effect of alkali sports and recreational activities. Most of the treatment on curaua fibres composites and parts of the automobiles, like door panels, reported improvement in tensile strength and trunk liners, seal backs, packages, speaker fracture strain. Huda et al., 2008), in their trays, engine and transmission covers, are investigation, pointed out that surface treated made using natural fibre composites. fibre-reinforced composites shown superior Despite several advantages they also mechanical proper-ties as compared to the possess few limitations such as poor untreated fibre-reinforced composites. wettability, poor adhesion incompatibility with (Bisanda and Ansell., 1991) studied the effect some poly-meric matrices and high moisture of silanes on mechanical properties of sisal- absorption by the fibres (Batchiar et al., epoxy composites and found considerable 2008). The greatest challenge in using the enhancement in compressive strength. (L Y natural fibre as reinforcement in polymer Mwaikambo and M P Ansell, 1999) though matrix is the poor adhesion between natural Mercerisation and acetylation, have fibre and matrix resulting in inferior strength successfully modified the structure of natural of the composites. The main reason for the fibres and these modifications resulted in poor compatibility is that while polymer matrix improved performance of natural fibre is hydrophobic and non-polar, the natural composites by promoting better fibre to resin fibres are hydrophilic and have polar groups bonding. 442 Int. J. Mech. Eng. & Rob. Res. 2014 S Somashekar and G C Shanthakumar, 2014 (Theepopnatkul et al., 2009), Hildegardia comparable. Natural fibres are very light in fabric (Guduri et al., 2006) and oil palm fibres weight in comparison with the synthetic fibres. (Sreekala and Thomas, 2003). Valadez- Most of the natural fibres are nearly 50% Gonzalez et al., 1999) investigated the effect lighter than glass. of fibre surface treatment on the fibre-matrix The present work investigated the effect bond strength of natural fibre-reinforced of fibre con-tent in weight percentage and composites and reported improvement in alkali treatment (with NaOH) on tensile, bond strength. flexural and impact properties of sisal natural In the present study, sisal fibres are used fibre-epoxy composites. as reinforcement. They are very-low-density fibres whose extraction from sisal fibres bush EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE is very simple as its gum present in the sheath Materials dissolves easily. The process is Economically The matrix system used is an epoxy resin feasible. sisal fibres are widely used in (Lapox-12) and hardener (k-8) supplied by packaging and for making biodegradble bags Atul Limited, Gujarat, India. Lapox-12 is a due to their high strength and rigidity. In older liquid, unmodified epoxy resin of medium references the genus of the tree was referred viscosity. Hardener k8 is a low-viscosity to as Oreodoxa. These bushes are normally room-temperature curing liquid. It is generally found in all parts of india,Europe and north preferred in hand-lay-up applications. Being america, Central and South America,.Some reactive, it gives a short pot life and rapid of the basic properties of this fibre were cure at normal ambient temperatures. The investi-gated by (L YMwaikambo and M P reinforcement is a sisal fibre, which was Ansell et al., 2007). Epoxy was used as the collected from the foliage of locally available matrix material in the present study. The role sisal bush through the water retting and of the matrix is to keep the fibres in a desired mechanical extraction. location, orientation and to effectively transfer the stress to fibres. And also they protect the Fibre Extraction fibres from mechanical and chemical From the foliage sheath, the leaves and leaf damage. Epoxy is most commonly used stem were removed and the sheath is dried matrix material because of its desirable for 2 days in shade. In the next step, it was properties like high strength, low viscosity, immersed in water retting tank for 2 weeks, low flow rate, low volatility during cure, low followed by hand rubbing and rinsing in water shrink rate, etc. The fibre-matrix inter-face till the unwanted greasy material was plays a vital role in the transformation of load, dissolved and fine fibre was extracted. Finally, from the matrix to the fibre. Even though the extracted fibre once again washed mechanical properties of the natural fibres thoroughly in plenty of clean water to remove are much lower than those of synthetic fibres the surplus waste. Continuous fibre was such as carbon, aramid, glass, etc., their obtained with length up to 1.5 m. The specific properties, especially stiffness, are obtained fibre was dried under sun for 6 days. 443 Int. J. Mech. Eng. & Rob. Res. 2014 S Somashekar and G C Shanthakumar, 2014 The average diameter of the fibre used for acid and dried in the oven at 15°C. Next the composite preparation was between 0.2 contents were transferred to a weighing bowl and 0.3 mm. It contained Sisal Cellulose and dried to a constant weight. (wt%)
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