Textile Fibre Composites &

It’s Applications

By: Ashok Rajpurohit

And
Bhagwat Tiwari
 Textile Fibre Composites & It’s Applications
By: Ashok Rajpurohit And Bhagwat Tiwari

Abstract

India, endowed with an abundant availability of natural fibres which can be termed as green fibres
such as jute, coir, sisal, pineapple, ramie, bamboo, banana etc., has focused on the development
of green composites primarily to explore value-added application avenues. Such natural fibre
composites are well suited as wood substitutes in the housing & construction sector. The
development of natural fibre composites in India is based on a two-pronged strategy of preventing
depletion of forest resources as well as ensuring good economic returns for the cultivation of
natural fibres.

Jute & coir based composites have been developed as substitutes for plywood & medium density
fibre boards. Panel & flush doors have also been developed out of these composite boards
especially for low-cost housing needs. Other product development activities include usage of sisal
fibre based composites as panel & roofing sheets. Incorporation of glass with jute brings about
large increases in mechanical properties of composites. The green composites can be very cost-
effective material especially for building & construction industry (panels, false ceilings, partition
boards etc.), packaging, automobile & railway coach interiors and storage devices.

Use of composites made from natural fibres like jute, sun hemp, coir, flax, bamboo etc. is
becoming popular day by day. To prevent de-forestation there is a wide scope and strong need to
replace timber product such as plywood, blockboard, particle boards, medium density fibre boards
etc. with some cheap, abundantly available and relatively easy to process material. As jute is also
lignocellulosic in nature like wood, jute composites are used as substitute for these products.

Jute composites can replace conventional glass fibre reinforced thermoses which are normally
used in our day to day life. Various properties of natural fibres composite like water absorption,
tensile strength, and flexural strength are compared and discussed. Fields of application of
composite made from natural fibres are highlighted.

This paper also deals with various composites made by using flax, coir and bamboo fibres. The
potential of such composites are discussed in this paper.

Introduction

Jute, sisal, banana and coir (coconut fibre), the major source of natural fibres, are grown in many
parts of India. Some of them have aspect ratios (ratio of length to diameter) > 1000 and can be
woven easily. Sisal and banana fibres are cellulose-rich(> 65%) and show tensile strength,
modulus and failure strain comparable with other cellulose-rich fibres like jute and flax whereas
the lignin-rich (> 40%) coir fibre is relatively weak and possess high failure strain. These fibres are
extensively used for cordage, sacks, fishnets, matting and rope, and as filling for mattresses and
cushions (e.g. rubberized coir). Cellulosic fibres are obtained from different parts of plants, e.g.
jute and ramie are obtained from the stem; sisal, banana and pineapple from the leaf; cotton from
the seed; coir from the fruit, and so on.

Recent reports indicate that plant-based natural fibres can very well be used as reinforcement in
polymer composites, replacing to some extent more expensive and non-renewable synthetic
fibres such as glass. The maximum tensile, impact and flexural strengths for natural fibre
2 2
reinforced plastic (NFRP) composites reported so far are 104.0 MN/m (jute-epoxy), 22.0 kJ/ m
2
(jute-polyester) and 64.0 MN/m (banana-polyester), respectively. The properties of some of the
natural fibres are compared in Table 1.0.
 Table 1: Properties of Select Natural Fibres

Property Jute Banana Sisal Pineapple Coir

(Coconut
fibre)
Width or Diameter (mm - 80-250 50-200 20-80 100-450
)
Density (gms./cc) 1.3 1.35 1.45 1.44 1.15
2
Tenacity (MN/m ) 440-533 529-754 568- 413-1627 131-175
640
Elastic Modulus - 8-20 9-16 34-82 4-6
2
(GN/m )

There are many examples of the use of cellulosic fibres in their native condition like sisal, coir,
jute, banana, palm, flax, cotton, and paper for reinforcement of different thermoplastic and
thermosetting materials like phenol formaldehyde, unsaturated polyester, epoxy, polyethylene,
cement, natural rubber etc. Different geometries of these fibres, both singly and in combination
with glass, have been employed for fabrication of uni-axial, bi-axial and randomly oriented
composites. Amongst these ligno-cellulosic fibres, jute contains a fairly high proportion of stiff
natural cellulose.

Rated fibres of jute have three principal chemical constituents, namely, a -cellulose, hemicellulose
and lignin. In addition, they contain minor constituents such as fats and waxes, inorganic (mineral)
matter, nitrogenous matter and traces of pigments like b -carotene and xanthophyll. As in
synthetic fibre composites, the mechanical properties of the final product depend on the individual
properties of the matrix, fibre and the nature of the interface between the two. Where the fibre is
an agricultural one, it is possible to tailor the end properties of the composite by selection of fibres
with a given chemical or morphological composition. Several studies of fibre composition and
morphology have found that cellulose content and microfibril angle tend to control the mechanical
properties of cellulosic fibres. Higher cellulose content and lower microfibril angle result in higher
work of fracture in impact testing. Sisal and banana fibres show better reinforcing efficiency than
coir and the specific strength properties of the composites are comparable to those of glass fibre
reinforced plastics (GRP). On the other hand, coir fibre, despite having low strength and modulus,
improves the impact resistance of polyester due to its large strain energy absorption.

2. Making of Composites:

Composites are hybrid materials made of a polymer resin reinforced by fibres, combining the high
mechanical and physical performance of the fibres and the appearance, bonding and physical
properties of polymers. Making of composites generally makes use of two materials which are as
follow:

• Fibres
• Resin material

Composite composition

The short and discontinuous fibre composites are responsible for the biggest share of successful
applications, whether measured by number of parts or quantity of material used. The most
important part in composites is that they are tailor made products i.e. their physical and
mechanical properties can be moulded according to the need of user. Therefore different layers of
fibres are sandwiched together to obtain the composite material. As shown in the figure below we
can observe that how fibres placed in different directions on combining together overcome the
strength problems which they faced in individual stage.

Tailored composites

The composites makes use of number of techniques for there manufacturing but the most
commonly used manufacturing processes are as follow:

• Hand laminating
• Resin injection technique
• Hot pressure method
• Filament winding Pultrusion
•
3. Green Composites:

Now a days natural fibres are forming and interesting alternative for most widely applied fibre in
composite technology, glass. Use of fibres like flax, hemp, jute, sisal, coir etc. in this industry so
far is very small due to availability of durable semi finished product with constant quality is often a
problem. Recent research and development have shown that this aspect can be considerably
improved knowing that natural fibres are cheap and have better stiffness per unit weight than
glass, which results in lighter components, this makes clear the grown interst in natural fibres.
Secondly the environmental impact is smaller since the natural fibre can be thermally recycled
and on the other hand its renewable source of fibre. There moderate mechanical properties
restrain them from being used as hi-tech applications. But for many reasons they can compete
with glass fibre composites.

In order to make composites generally with prefer fibre with large staple length hence can be
bound easily with matrix. Therefore majorly we make use of bast fibre for this purpose. The most
common fibres use in the making are Jute, Hemp, Coir, Flax, Bamboo etc. Now a days
composites are even manufactured by using fibres made of chitin and chitosan.

3.1 Jute Fibre Composites

Jute fibre itself is a composite of cellulose backbone in lignin matrix. The art of making jute
composites is the combination of properties between jute and other materials to form a new
material having properties better than each one. Jute fibre composites are manufactured by using
number of other firbes. The most important jute composites can be listed as :

• Jute-polyester composites
• Jute-glass composites
3.1.1 Jute-Polyester Composites:

Polyester resin forms an intimate bond with jute fibres upto a maximum fibre : resin ratio
(volume/volume) of 60:40. At this volume fraction, the Young’s modulus of the composite is
approximately 35 GN/m2. For higher volume fraction of fibre, the quantity of resin is insufficient to
wet fibres completely.

In order to overcome the poor adhesion between resin matrix and jute fibres, a multifunctional
resin like polyesteramide polyol has reportedly been used as an interfacial agent. Significant
improvement in mechanical properties of jute fibre composites was observed by incorporation of
polyesteramide polyol. Also, hybrid composites of glass at surface and treated jute fibre at inner
core can be a good alternative. Apart from imparting improved strength to the product, such
hybrids result in cost & weight savings.

There are several types of unsaturated polyester resins - general purpose, flexible, resilient, low-
shrinkage (low profile), weather resistant, chemical resistant and fire retardant varieties. These
polyester resins are prepared from a blend of phthalic anhydride and maleic anhydride esterified
with propylene glycol to form linear polyester chains having molecular weights in the range 1000-
3000. For curing such unsaturated polyester resins with fibre, azo type initiators (R-N=N-R) and
organic peroxides (R-O-O-R) are generally used.

3.1.2 Jute-Glass Composites:

Although the tensile strength and Young’s modulus of jute are lower than those of glass fibres, the
specific modulus of jute fibre is superior to that of glass and when compared on modulus per cost
basis, jute is far superior. The specific strength per unit cost of jute, too, approaches that of glass.
Therefore, where high strength is not a priority, jute may be used to fully or partially replace glass
fibre. The need for using jute fibres in place of the traditional glass fibre partly or fully as
reinforcing agents in composites stems from its lower specific gravity (1.29) and higher specific
modulus (40 GPa) of jute compared with those of glass (2.5 & 30 GPa respectively). Apart from
much lower cost and renewable nature of jute, much lower energy requirement for the production
of jute (only 2% of that for glass) makes it attractive as a reinforcing fibre in composites.

The natural fibre imparts lower durability and lower strength compared to glass fibres. However,
low specific gravity results in a higher specific strength and stiffness than glass. This is a benefit
especially in parts designed for bending stiffness. In addition, the natural fibres offer good thermal
and acoustic insulation properties along with ease in processing technique without wearing of
tool.

The jute composites may be used in everyday applications such as lampshades, suitcases,
paperweights, helmets, shower and bath units. They are also used for covers of electrical
appliances, pipes, post-boxes, roof tiles, grain storage silos, panels for partition & false ceilings,
bio-gas containers, and in the construction of low cost, mobile or pre-fabricated buildings which
can be used in times of natural calamities.

Application of Natural Fibres as Composites:

Textiles are more than apparels they are used in variety of products sometime hidden from view
but always an integral part of product. Thus the fibre reinforced composites are becoming a good
substitute to the conventional products such as wood, metal etc. The composites are gaining
importance due to light weight, high strength to weight ratio, good corrosion resistance which has
made it applicable on numerous applications. A few of them are short listed below:

Buliding Structures:

Taken into concern the issue to global warming deforestration must be stopped hence a
substitute to wood for making houses was taken as metal which due to its high weight is been
replaced by the composite reinforced be fibres.
Textiles are increasingly used as integral component of following building structures.

• Partioning/separating panel
• Prefabricated, portable and modular building
• False ceiling
• Surface paneling
• Roofing
• Cupboards and ward robes
• Sound insulating walls
• Siding of house to increase heat retention.

Natural fibres as reinforcing agent in composite matrices( such as cement & polymer ) are
attracting more attention of various low-cost building products. Natural fobres are gaining
importance as a substitute to glass fibre as composite for the building of structure, due to
properties like high stiffness and are cheap. These materials are basically used as they can be
easily moulded into sheets, boards, grafting, pallets, frames, false ceilings, fences rather than the
technical properties.

4.1.1 Coir Composites:

As India is the second largest producer of coconut, coir is a sector which has got high attentation.
The most distinguishing character of coir is that it’s durable in all types of matrices viz.
polymer,bitumen, cement, gypsum, flash-lime mud etc.

Coir along with jute and little rubber wood are mixed to form coir-ply wood, which are highly
resistant to rotting due to 46% presence of lignin. These ply woods are used to make false ceiling,
roofing, furniture, cupboards, wardrobes etc.

4.1.2 Bamboo and Its Composites:

Bamboo is a fast growing material and therefore finds large

applications. Bamboo exhibits excellent physical and mechanical
properties.

Composites made of bamboo can be used for making sandwich

structural panel. They provide thermal insulation and can fulfil a
primary structural function. A bit less insulating, but still very well
suitable for wall and roof construction are sandwiches made of
natural fibre composite skins and bamboo pillars as sandwich core. Due to insulation property
bamboo fibre is far better than steel in performance.

Flax Composites:

Flax and other fibres bounded to two sides of foam block are used
highly in the sector. They build stiff sandwich panel. They are used
a lot in trucks, trailers and construction.

Roofing Panels

Natural fibres and resin material can be pressed into laminates that can act as skins of so called
sandwiches (layered panel consisting of skins and a core), see figure 12. Compared to
corrugated iron roofing the natural fibre sandwich has improved thermal and acoustic insulating
properties and doesn't cause zinc and rust pollution. Due to the use of local resources, the natural
fibre sandwich is probably cheaper to manufacture. In comparison with traditional vegetable
roofing, the sandwich is more durable. Similar panels can also be used as doors, tabletops and
shelves.
 Fig 12: Natural Fibre Sandwich Roof

Coir Cement Roofing:

Coir fibres are soaked in mineral water and than mixed with dry cement in ratio 1:5. The sheet
thus formed is held under pressure for 4-8 hours. These sheets generally shows very good
results.

Fluid Containers

Using cost effective filament winding equipment, reusable containers (figure 13) for transport and
storage of liquids (water, beer, wine, fish- and soy-sauce) can be filament wound, from spun
natural fibres. Using natural rubber as resin, the container becomes "foldable-when-empty". The
thermal properties of the natural fibres keep the contents cool. The advantage over plastic or steel
vessels is the environmental friendly design, the low weight and the reduction in transport- and
manufacturing costs.

Fig 13: Sisal Storage Container

Bridges:

Using pultrusion technology, natural fibre construction profiles can be manufactured at any length,
see figure 14. A very useful application of these profiles in combination with the panels described
earlier is a simple pedestrian bridge, see figure 15. This bridge is easily transported to remote
locations due to its lightweight and withstands tropical conditions better than metal bridges. Due
to the low weight, a less complicated foundation is required. Also window- or doorframes,
scaffoldings and tubes can be made.
Small Boats

Small canoe-like boats, see figure 16, can be manufactured with

vacuum techniques. These boats withstand corrosion better than
metal boats and the low weight makes them easy to handle, both in
the water and ashore. In addition, they are more durable than steel,
wooden or bamboo boats.

Automobile

In recent years there has been a revival of interest in natural fibre

such as jute, sisal and kapok for use in automobiles especially in
composites. The idea is of using natural fibres as a reinforcement in
a thermoplastic matrix. Natural fibres such as flax and kenaf can
easily compete with classical reinforcement( glass fibre) in term of mechanical properties. The
natural fibres have several advantages such as low cost, low weight, good availability and
ecological advantages. The approach of using plant fibres as reinforcing components goes along
with the intention to reduce the green house effect by establishing a nearly closed carbon dioxide
cycle. This is the reason that an individual European
cars makes use of 5 – 10 kgs of natural fibres in it.

Automotive interiors with the reinforcement of natural

fibres are considered to be physiologically safer than
glass fibre parts as no sharp edged fracture appears
in case of crash. Further advantages results from
their air conditioning effect and in particular high
absorbency. With respect to industrial safety they
don’t cause allergic reactions or skin irritation. Finally
a positive image and product marketing related to the
utilization of renewable material should be taken in
consideration.

TABLE 2: Typical Natural Fibres Used In Cars

Application Fiber Matrix %fiber

Door panels /inserts Kenaf/hemp pp 50%

Rear parcel shelf Flax/wood pp 50%

Seatbacks Flax pp 50%

Spare tyre covers Wood pp 85%

Other interior trim Kenaf/flax pp 50%
Conclusion:

Natural fibre can be a potential candidate in making of composites can be termed as green
composites, especially for partial replacement of high-cost glass fibres for low load bearing
applications. With ever-depleting forest reserves and corresponding premium on wood, a
composite based on renewable resources such as jute, coir, sisal etc. is poised to penetrate the
market. With increasing emphasis on fuel efficiency, natural fibre such as jute based composites
would enjoy wider applications in automobiles and railway coaches.

As large varieties of bamboo grow abundantly in many parts of India, there exists an excellent
opportunity in fabricating bamboo based composites towards a wide array of applications in
building & construction such as boards & blocks as reconstituted wood, flooring tiles etc.

References:

• Fibres Reinforced Composites- Mallaick

• Asian Textile Journal- Feb.- Mar,2006
• Technical Textile International- July/Aug 2006
• Indian Textile Journal-May 2006

About the Authors:

The Authors are students of D.K.T.E, Ichalkaranji.

This paper was also presented at event under national level grand fiesta PRAGYAA-2010
Department of Textile Technology of S G G S I E &T., Nanded.