Improved Mechanical Properties of Natural Fiber Composites

Saravana Bavan D.1, Mohan Kumar G C.2 1,2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Karnataka. Surathkal, Mangalore, India. E-mail: saranbav@gmail.com

Abstract Natural fiber plays a vital role in the new era of bio-composites because of its interesting features that makes it prominence in all fields. Bio composites are formed by binding natural fibers derived from plants or cellulose using organic binders. There are number of factors which influence the properties of natural fiber composites, among them mechanical properties play an important role in bringing out the shape of composites. This paper gives an overview of specific physical and mechanical properties of natural fiber composites like maximum bending stress, modulus of elasticity, tensile stress and dimensional stability performance and the other new exciting methods. Key words: Bio-composites, Mechanical Properties, Bio- polymers, Rule of mixtures 1. Introduction In this new technological era, we are faced with number of environmental problems and these concerns continue to prompt research in bio-fields. There is a growing interest for the use of natural fibers in composite applications, where the cellulose fibers act as reinforcement of polymeric matrix. Natural fibers have been around for a very long time, from the beginning of the life on Earth. A renaissance in the use of natural fibers as reinforcements in technical applications began in 90s of 20th century. The archeological artifacts suggest that human beings used these materials in fabrics many thousand years ago. As early as 1908, the first composite materials were applied for the fabrication of large quantities of sheets, tubes and pipes for electronic purposes (paper or cotton to reinforce sheets, made of phenol- or melamine-formaldehyde resins). It may seem surprising, but first natural fiber composites were used more than 100 years ago for construction purposes and also in late 90s Henry ford worked in soya bean composites for automobile industries. Synthetic fibers such as carbon, glass or aramid are now finding a substitute for this, due to the high cost and re-cycle. Recent advances in the use of natural fibers in composites have been reviewed by several authors [1, 2].The advantage of the natural fiber composite materials over synthetic fibers like aramide, carbon or glass fiber include their acceptable specific strength properties, low density, low cost, non-abrasive, good thermal and acoustic properties, can be thermally recycled (posses a good calorific value and enhanced energy recovery [3]. Furthermore they provide excellent insulation against heat and noise [4] which increased the value of these bio-fibers. The usage of bio-fibers as reinforcing fibers in both thermoplastic and thermoset composites provide positive response to such environmental issues through their ultimate biodegradability and as annually renewable raw material. However, natural fibers also have an undesirable property, namely, hygroscope because of their chemical constituents. The moisture absorption by composites containing natural fibers has several adverse effects on their properties and thus affects their long-term performance and has a few draw backs in processing of composites. Most of Natural fiber composites are
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short fiber composites with non-homogeneous length and orientation distributions. It is known that elastic modulus and the strength of discontinuous fiber composites are moderate compared to continuous fiber-reinforced composites. The combination of interesting mechanical and physical properties together with their sustainable character has triggered various activities in the area of green composites. Application of natural fiber finds application in automobile industries, construction, packaging material, textiles, aero-space, and electronics. 2. Classification and Structure of Natural Fibers Fibers can be classified in to two main groups: manmade and natural. Generally, natural fibers are basically grouped into three different types like plant fiber, animal fiber, and mineral fiber. Plant fiber can be divided depending on their sources: leaf (sisal, henequen and pineapple fiber), bast (flax, ramie, jute and hemp), seed (cotton, kapok), grass/ stem (reed grass, cereal straw) and wood fibers (soft and hard wood). The classification of natural fibers is shown in figure 1. All plant fibers are composed of cellulose while animal fibers consist of proteins. Agricultural residuals such as wheat straw, rice straw and corn stalks are also sources of plant fibers but they have a lower cellulose content compared to wood. Natural fibers

Animal Plant

Mineral

Bast

Leaf

Seed

Wood

Grass/ Stem

Figure 1.Classification of Natural fiber composites The main polymers involved in the composition of plant fibers are cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin and pectin. The technical fibers consist of elementary fibers with lengths generally between 2 and 5 cm, and diameters between 10 and 25 m. The elementary fibers are glued together by a pectin interface. They are not circular but a polyhedron with 5 to 7 sides to improve the packing in the technical fiber. Chemical structure of cellulose monomer is shown in Figure 2. Most of the elementary fiber consists of oriented, highly crystalline cellulose fibrils and amorphous hemi cellulose. The crystalline cellulose fibrils in the cell wall are oriented at an angle of about 10 degrees with the fiber axis [3, 5] and give the fiber its high tensile strength.

Figure 2. Chemical structure of cellulose monomer Cellulose is the main component of vegetable fibers (jute is approximately 64 wt %). The elementary unit of a cellulose macromolecule is anhydro-dglucose, which contains three hydroxyls (-OH). These hydroxyls form hydrogen bonds inside the macromolecule itself (intra molecular) and between other cellulose macromolecules (intermolecular) as well as with hydroxyl groups from moist air [5, 6, 7]. Cellulose content of other fibers is shown in table 1. The distinct cells of hard plant fibers are bonded together by lignin, acting as a cementing material. The lignin content of plant fibers influences its structure, properties and morphology. Degree of polymerization is also an important characteristic of vegetable fiber. The use of ligno cellulosic fibers in plastic composites is of great interest because such fibers can serve as a good reinforce and or filler for synthetic polymers to enhance certain properties while reducing material cost [8]. These fibers have many advantages such as low density, high specific strength and modulus, relative non-abrasiveness, ease of fiber surface modification and wide availability. Ligno cellulosics are degraded biologically because organisms recognize the carbohydrate polymers (mainly the hemicelluloses) in the cell wall and have very specific enzyme systems capable of hydrolyzing these polymers into digestible units. Fiber technology, high performance adhesives, and fiber modification can be used to manufacture structural lignocellulosic composites with uniform densities, durability in adverse environments, and high strength. Table 1.Cellulose content of Some Fibers Type of Fiber Kenaf Acacia Banana 3. Bio-Polymers Biopolymers are polymers that are generated from renewable natural sources, are often biodegradable, and not toxic to produce. They can be produced by biological systems (i.e. micro-organisms, plants and animals), or chemically synthesized from biological starting materials (e.g. sugars, starch, natural fats or oils, etc.) [9, 10, 11]. Biopolymers are an alternative to petroleum-based polymers (traditional plastics). Depending to the evolution of the synthesis process, different classifications of the different biodegradable polymers have been proposed [9, 11]. First 3 categories are obtained from renewable resources:
1. Polymers from biomass such as the agro polymers from agro-resources (e.g., starch,

Cellulose (%) 45-60 15-30 45-50

cellulose). 2. Polymers obtained by microbial production, e.g., poly hydroxyl - alkanoates. 3. Polymers conventionally and chemically synthesized and the monomers are obtained from agro-resources, e.g., poly lactic acid.
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4. Polymers whose monomers and polymers are obtained conventionally, by chemical synthesis. 4. Properties of Natural Fibers Composites The natural fibers are basically characterized by the same parameters and properties as all other fibers. However, due to natural origin they show much higher variability of the various parameters than their synthetic counterparts [12]. The properties of natural fibers vary considerably depending on the fiber diameter, structure (e.g. proportion of crystalline fibrils and non-crystalline regions, spiral angle), supra molecular structure (degree of crystallinity), degree of polymerization, crystal structure (type of cellulose, defects, orientation of the chains of non-crystalline cellulose and crystalline fibrils), void structure (pore volume, specific interface, size of pores), and finally, whether the fibers are, taken from the plant stem, leaf or seed and on the growing (climate)conditions, harvesting conditions and processing [13, 14]. To improve the properties of the composites, the natural reinforcing fibers can be modified by physical and chemical methods. Physical methods, such as stretching, thermo treatment, calendaring, electronic discharge (corona, cold plasma), do not change the chemical composition or structure only surface properties of the fiber [15, 16]. The most important chemical modification involves coupling methods. The coupling agent used contains chemical groups, which can react with the fiber and the polymer. The bonds formed are covalent and hydrogen bonds which improve the interfacial adhesion [17]. Table 2 shows that natural fibers comparison with E-glass. Table 2. Comparison of the properties of natural fibers and glass fibers [1, 6, 7] Properties Density (g/cm3) Tensile strength 10E6N/m2 E-modulus (Gpa) Elongation at failure (%) Moisture absorption Flax 1.4 800-1500 60-80 1.2-1.6 7 Coir 1.25 220 6 15-25 10 Jute 1.46 400-800 10-30 1.8 12 Sisal 1.33 600-700 38 2-3 11 E-glass 2.55 2400 73 3 -

5. Improved Properties of Mechanical Models All the plant fibers are hydrophilic in nature. That is because of their chemical structure the hemicelluloses and the pectin are very hydrophilic [11, 18]. Only thermo sets such as phenol formaldehyde and related polymers are less hydrophobic and are therefore less problematic [18]. Moisture absorption increases with increasing fiber loading and increased moisture decreases their mechanical properties [19], Coupling agents, compatibilizers or other chemical modifications are used to improve the moisture resistance of composites [20, 21]. However, moisture absorption of composites is still one a major concern especially for their outdoor application. Traditionally, the diffusion theory has been applied to understand the mechanism of moisture absorption in composites [22, 23]. Single fiber fragmentation test is a common method used to measure adhesion quantitatively.
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The mechanical properties in a composite depend mostly on the fiber content and orientation, and also on the quality of the load transfer between the matrix and the reinforcement. It is also related to the strength of the interface and consequently to the quality of bonding between the matrix and the fibers [24]. It is true for short fibers reinforced composites due to the multiplication of interfaces. It is verified that Weibull distribution is applicable to approximate strength distribution of natural fibers. Another direct method, although less popular, is loop test. Using this method it is possible to determine both tensile and compressive strength of fibers. In comparison to the stiffness, strength theory for short fiber composites can also be used. Most of the strength models are also based on the rule of mixtures [25-27] or equivalent laminate [28, 29] approach. Considering the rule of mixtures, misaligned short fiber composite strength has,

Where, uf is fiber strength, but m - stress in the matrix at the fiber failure strain. ls and os are fiber length efficiency factor and fiber orientation efficiency factor for strength calculation respectively. For all the models, length efficiency factor ls is related to critical or ineffective fiber length. Recently, more complicated models have been advanced [30-32] that employ numerical modeling of deformation and failure.

Figure 3.Typical stress-strain curve of natural flax fiber A typical stress-strain diagram of an elementary fiber is shown in figure 3. The apparent variation of tangent modulus with strain confined mostly to the initial, small strain part of the diagram is attributed to the orientation of the fibrils along the axis of the fiber under load. At larger load/strain values, fiber response becomes linear, and we use the linear part of diagram for Youngs modulus calculation [33, 34]. Theoretical and experimental researches have dealt with calculations of the tensile strength and the Youngs modulus of fiber composites. Models like Cox-Krenchel, Kelly-Tyson have been used for these calculations. These rules are generally based on n the rule of mixtures. All models and composite equations contain the E-modulus or the tensile strength of the reinforcing fibers. Hence it came to an agreement between the theoretical approaches and the practical results are a reliable and exact measurement of tensile strength sand modulus of the reinforcing element. Shear lag models were the first micromechanics models for short fiber composites. Classical shear lag models also predict the longitudinal modulus and they are very popular due to their algebraic and physical simplicity [34]. Usually they are implemented by combining the average stress in the fiber with average matrix stress to construct a modified rule of mixtures. Composite modulus E is related to fiber and matrix moduli, Ef and Em and fiber volume fraction Vf by a rule of mixtures type of relationship.
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Where oE is orientation factor and IE is fiber length efficiency factor. 6. Conclusions Natural fiber composites combine good mechanical properties with a low specific mass. But their high level of moisture absorption, poor wettability, and insufficient adhesion between untreated fibers and the polymer matrix leads to debonding with age. Biopolymers can limit carbon dioxide emissions during creation, and degrade to organic matter after disposal. An increased availability of these biopolymers allows many consumers to choose and thereby protect the environment. The rule of mixtures is acceptable for stiffness and strength prediction of composites. For long fiber composites the sensitiveness is low and hence different strength models should be applied. It is necessary to think that natural fiber composites should be designed for load bearing calculations, hence in future it can be said these fibers play an important role in all mechanical aspects of design. 7. References
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