JIMMA UNIVERSITY

JIMMA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

MSC.PROGRAM IN DESIGN OF MECHANICAL SYSTEM

Review of current research trend on natural

fiber.composite

Instructor: - Dr. Daniel.T. Redda(PhD)

by Name ID

Abel Ermias………………….…….……RM7512/11

Abanega Wolteji……………… ………. RM/7511/11

Friday, Aug 30, 2019

Table of Contents
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1

2. Experimental methods and conditions .......................................................................................... 2

2.1. Woven jute fabric reinforced poly(L-lactic acid) composites ............................................... 2

2.1.1. Materials ............................................................................................................................ 2

2.1.2. Molding of woven and nonwoven fabric composites ........................................................ 2

2.1.3. Mechanical measurements ................................................................................................. 2

2.2. Banana Polyester Composite ................................................................................................. 2

2.2.1. Materials ............................................................................................................................ 3

2.2.2. Composite preparation ....................................................................................................... 3

2.2.3. Testing of composite sample ............................................................................................. 3

2.3. Silk-epoxy resin composites modulated by flax fibres .......................................................... 4

2.3.1. Materials ............................................................................................................................ 4

2.3.2. Fabrication of hybrid composites....................................................................................... 4

2.3.3. Mechanical testing ............................................................................................................. 4

2.4. Laminated bamboo ................................................................................................................ 5

2.4.1. Fabrication of the specimens ............................................................................................. 5

2.4.2. Experimental device........................................................................................................... 5

2.4.3. Heating regimes and the uniaxial loading system.............................................................. 5

3. Results and discussion .................................................................................................................. 6

4. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 10

Reference ............................................................................................................................................ 11
 1. Introduction

Fiber holds a vital position in the composite materials, as it possesses capability of sustaining load
and providing the desired characteristics and properties. Generally, synthetic and natural are the two
important classes of fibers. Out of which natural fibers now have completely suppressed synthetic one
and ruling a composite world solely. But after improvement of technology, people started consuming
synthetic materials due to high reduction of cost as compared to natural fiber. With the passage of
time, development of new and sophisticated technology has revolutionized the composite field and
again natural fibers are brought back into making the composites [1]. Recently there has been a high
demand for natural fiber composite materials in automotive and aerospace engineering. Compared to
synthetic fibers they have the advantage of being cheaper, recyclable and renewable and also having
a high strength to weight ratio [2].

Bio based fibers as a reinforcement in the composite materials is getting more attention . Nowadays,
a considerable attention is being given in the utility of natural fibers obtained continuously from nature
for reinforcement with matrix. These fibers are extracted from variety of plants. Hemp, jute, banana,
sisal, kenaf etc. comes under natural fibers class. Composites are basically, the sandwiched structure
of two or more materials, maybe different in characteristics and composition combined with certain
resins which maybe man made or synthetic based on the application, where the composites are used.
Fibre properties are determined by the physical, mechanical and chemical properties of its constituents
and their interfaces. Several studies have claimed that fibre’s mechanical properties are determined
by the secondary wall’s middle layer [3].

This paper is a literature review on the trend of natural fiber composite materials. Focus is on
experimental investigation into the mechanical properties of some natural fibers and their findings.
Khan [4]et al. investigated the effect of reinforcing poly (L-lactic acid) composites with woven jute
fabric on their mechanical properties with the aim of developing ecofriendly biocomposites. Dhakal
[1] et al. experimented to mechanically characterize short row banana fiber polyester composites. Wu
[5] et al. studied the mechanical properties of silk-epoxy resin composites modulated by flax fibers.
Xu [6] et al. looked into how laminated bamboo behaves in an elevated temperature. Duohuaxu [2] et
al. studied the mechanical properties of hybrid composite materials (flax /glass/epoxy hybrid
composite and glass/jute/epoxy hybrid composite) reinforced with natural fibers and made analysis
using DIC (digital image correlation) measurements. The first four of these literatures are reviewed
here on this paper.
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 2. Experimental methods and conditions
2.1.Woven jute fabric reinforced poly(L-lactic acid) composites

Khan [4]et al. did their investigation on the effect of reinforcing poly (L-lactic acid) composites, from
now on referred to as PLLA, with woven jute fabric on their mechanical properties using the materials,
preparation method and tests performed are listed below.

2.1.1. Materials

The materials used are PLLA polymer with a weight of 110/000 g/mol and unbalanced plain weave
jute mat (52 yarns in warp direction and 44 yarns in warp direction with average density of 200g/ m2
and average thickness of 6mm.

2.1.2. Molding of woven and nonwoven fabric composites

They completed the composite preparation in two steps. In the first step PLLA films were prepared
by 2 polished stainless steel (SS) sheets in a hot press molding machine. Molding machine is
accomplished by hydraulic press and hot plate. The prepared PLLA films were also cut into the same
dimension like fabric. A rectangular stainless steel (SS) mold with 15 x 15cm square cavity and 10
mm depth was used for composite fabrication. They calculated the weight fractions of the fabrics in
composites by the formula:

=
+

2.1.3. Mechanical measurements

The following is the list of the types of the tests they performed, the standards and the machines used.

Table-1 Tests and machines used by Khan [4]et al.

Tests Standard Machine

Tensile test in warp and weft directions ASTM D882 (Hounsfield UTM 10KN)

Three-point flexural test ASTM D790-98 Hounsfield UTM 10KN

Notched Charpy impact test ASTM D6110-97 Universal impact tester

2.2. Banana Polyester Composite

Dhakal [1] investigated the mechanical properties of banana fiber reinforced composites with different
volume fractions. The materials, preparation and tests performed are as follows:
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 2.2.1. Materials

The materials used for the experiment are:

Table-2 Materials, their purpose and sizes used by Dhakal [1] et al.

Materials Purpose Size Conditions

Banana fiber Reinforcing 10mm Properly combed and
length dried in the sun
Polyester resin As a matrix material for Density of -
keeping firm grip on fibers 1.10g/cm3
and transmitting the load in
between broken fiber

Cobalt Nepthenate Hardener - -

Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide Catalyst - -
(MEKP)

2.2.2. Composite preparation

Manufacturing of composite sample was carried out using hot compression moulding method.
Calculated amount of 10mm banana fibers was placed in random orientation in the mould. The whole
manufacturing procedure is repeated 10 times for producing 10 samples of 3mm and 5mm thickness
with fiber volume fraction varying from 5%, 10%, 15%, 17.5% and 20% respectively.

2.2.3. Testing of composite sample

The following table describes the testing parameters.

Table-3 Tests, sizes of samples and machines used by Dhakal [1] et al.

Tests Sample dimension Testing Number of Machine/standard

speed samples
Tensile test 230mm length, 25mm width 6mm/m 10 Universal testing
thickness of 3mm and 5mm (5 in machine/ASTM
samples each), gauge length of D3039
170mm
Three-point length to thickness ratio of 20, grip 3mm/m 10 Universal testing
bending test length 10% of span length on either in machine/ASTM
side D7264
Izode 63.5mm length and 12.7mm width - 10 Universal impact
impact test tester/ASTM D256

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 2.3. Silk-epoxy resin composites modulated by flax fibres

Wu [5] et al. used flax fibers to modulate the stiffness and impact properties of natural B. mori silk
reinforced epoxy composites. They applied intra- and inter-hybridization of flax and silk fibers to
evaluate the effect on mechanical properties including tensile and flexural modulus and strength. The
materials, tests, preparations and analyses are as follows:

2.3.1. Materials

The following are the materials used;

A plain woven Bombyx mori (B. mori) silk fabric with Areal density of 90±5g/m2, three plain woven
(B. mori) silk-flax hybrid fabric with mixed ratios of flax /silk of (30/70,21/79 and 42/58) with
respective areal densities of 60±5g/m2, 80±5g/m2 and 120±5g/m2, A plain-woven flax with areal
density of 145g/m2, Silk and Flax fibers with respective densities of 1300kg/m3 and 1450kg/m3 and
Araldite LY1564/Aradur3486 (epoxy resin/hardener) with specific density of at room temperature of
1.1-1.2x103 kg/m3.

2.3.2. Fabrication of hybrid composites

Hybrid composites were fabricated as laminates using a VARTM (Vacuum-Assisted Resin Transfer
Moulding) set-up, followed by hot pressing to obtain a high-volume fraction of the fibre and improved
interface quality of the composite.

2.3.3. Mechanical testing

The table below shows the different tests performed.

Table-4 Tests performed by Wu [5] et al.

Tests Sample dimension Condition Machine

Tensile Dog bone samples 115×25×2mm3, 2mm/min an Instron 8801
gauge length 10mm displacement screw-driven testing
machine
Three-point rectangular 40×15×2mm3. cross-head speed Instron 5565 screw-
bending of 2mm/min driven testing
machine
interlaminar shear Rectangular 20×10×2mm3. cross-head speed Instron 5565
strength test of 1mm/min

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 Impact testing Laminate 100×100×2mm3 Maximum 4J unnotched Charpy
impact energy impact
Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis

The thermo-mechanical properties of the silk and hybrid fibre composites were also evaluated by
dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), measured using a DMA Q800 instrument under
cantilever mode with a heating rate of 3oC/min, at temperatures from 25oC to 170oC at a frequency of
1 Hz. The deformation/dynamic strain was set to be constant at 0.2% under the cantilever mode.

2.4. Laminated bamboo

Xu [6] et al. investigated the effects of elevated temperature on laminated bamboos. The mechanical
properties of the laminated bamboos were tested as follows:

2.4.1. Fabrication of the specimens

The adhesive used in the laminated bamboo is a phenolic resin with a grass transition temperature of
approximately 150oC. the adhesive content of the laminated bamboo is less than 2% of its total mass.
The specimens used for uniaxial compression and tensile testing were prepared based on ASTM
D143-14. Three different directions of laminated bamboo were studied, including parallel to grain and
perpendicular to grain in the edgewise section and in the flatwise section. 5 tensile coupon specimens
and 3 compressive test specimens were included for each temperature.

2.4.2. Experimental device

The test equipment was a UMT5305-30-ton electronic universal testing machine, and the heating
device was a high-temperature barrel furnace. The measuring equipment included a force sensor,
displacement sensor, and temperature collector, in addition to a 50mm gauge room-temperature
extensometer with a range of 25mm and a 50mm gauge high-temperature extensometer with a range
of 10mm.

2.4.3. Heating regimes and the uniaxial loading system

A steady-state test method was used with target temperatures of 20oC, 50oC, 100oC, 150oC, 200oC,
250oC and 280oC and the average heating rate was 5oC/min. The specimens needed to be heated to
the target temperature and kept for 30min.

The loading process was controlled by the motion of the movable crosshead at a rate of 1mm/min for
tensile specimens parallel to grain and at a rate of 0.5mm/min for others.

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 3. Results and discussion

As a result of the tests performed Khan [4] et al. got;

Figure 1 Tensile stress–strain diagrams of (a) PLLA,

Figure 2 Tensile stress–strain diagrams of (a) PLLA,
(b) untreated WJF/PLLA composite in warp direction
(b) untreated WJF/PLLA composite in weft direction
and (c) treated WJF/PLLA composite in warp
and (c) treated WJF/PLLA composite in weft direction.
direction.

Figure 4 Flexural stress–strain diagrams of (a) PLLA,

Figure 3 Flexural stress–strain diagrams of (a) PLLA,
(b) untreated WJF/PLLA composite in weft direction
(b) untreated WJF/PLLA composite in warp direction
and (c) treated WJF/PLLA composite in weft direction.
and (c) treated WJF/PLLA composite in warp
direction.

Tensile modulus (TM) was determined by the slope of the initial portion of stress–strain curve. A
significant improvement in the tensile strength (TS) and TM of PLLA was obtained by the
reinforcement with untreated WJF; inwarp direction their respective values were increased. In weft
direction, TS and TM were also found to be 77.5% and 105.6% higher than unreinforced PLLA
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samples, respectively. The strains at maximum tensile stress for untreated WJF/PLLA composite
samples were found to be 3.8% in warp direction and 4.1% in weft direction. The average impact
strength of untreated WJF/PLLA composite in warp direction (16.4 kJ/m2) is 85.9% higher than the
impact strength of unreinforced PLLA.

Dhakal [1] et al. found the results from the experiments and discussed them as such;

Figure 5: Tensile strength Vs fiber volume

fraction

Figure 6: Flexural strength Vs fiber volume

fraction

Figure 7: Impact strength Vs fiber volume fraction

The results of the tensile testes show that tensile strength grows continoulsly as volume fraction of
fiber gradually increases. Maximum value of tensile strength for 3mm and 5mm sample occurs in 20%
volume fraction of banana fibers as the value is 22.67 Mpa and 23.04 Mpa respectively.

Flexural strength is in increasing trend for both 3 mm and 5 mm sample with the variation of fiber
volume fraction. Minimum value of flexural strength obtained as 79.92 Mpa for 3 mm lamina and

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also maximum value as 115.38 Mpa. Similarly for 5mm sample, 87.69 Mpa and 124.61 Mpa were
minimum and maximum flexural strength values obtained.

Impact value has rising trend for increasing fiber volume fraction. Maximum value occurs at 20 %
volume fraction for both 3mm and 5mm samples and its value obtained is 106.275 J/m and 147.15
J/m respectively. From the Figure 7, it is clear that increment of fiber enhances energy absorption
capability due to strong and proper bonding between matrix material and fiber.

Wu [5] et al. found the following results

Figure 8 Typical engineering tensile stress strain curves. The inset shows
Figure 9 Typical flexural stress-strain
the tensile specimen geometry.

Figure 11 Comparison of load-time profiles

Figure 10 storage modulus (E') as a function of
under 4 J impact, respectively.
temperature

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According to the results as the flax fraction increased from 21% to 42% from FS1 to FS3 of intraply
laminates, and the tensile strength increased from 170 MPa to 247 MPa. Silk-epoxy composites have
been reported to possess superior flexural mechanical properties. In particular, the FS3 material had
the highest storage modulus of 7.0 GPa owing to its high stiffness and larger volume fraction of flax
fibres. Additionally, three hybrid composites, namely FS2, FS3 and HSH, maintained a storage
modulus greater than 1 GPa above their glass-transition temperature Tg, which is important for many
engineering applications.

Xu [2] et al. investigated the effect of elevated temperature on the mechanical properties on laminated
bamboo and found the following results;

Figure 12 Compressive parallel to grain stress-strain Figure 13 Compressive perpendicular to grain stress-strain
relationship. relationship.

Figure 15 Tensile perpendicular to grain stress-strain

Figure 14 Tensile parallel to grain stress-strain relationship.
relationship.

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The compressive strength and elastic modulus of the bamboo in both the flatwise and edgewise
directions are similar, and the compressive strength and elastic modulus decrease with increasing
temperature from 20 C to 280 C. The tensile strength and elastic modulus of the bamboo in both
flatwise and edgewise directions are similar.

4. Conclusion

Natural fibers were in most cases cheaper than other fibers also high strength and stiffness. Natural
fibers such as banana, jute, flax, bamboo have excellent specific strength and low density. As all the
natural fibers are biodegradable, safe disposal of the materials at the end of their service life is assured.
Natural fiber reinforced materials possess some inherent advantages such as better acoustic and
dampening properties due to their porous structure.

The experimental study on the effect of fiber loading and orientation on physical and mechanical
properties of different natural fibers showed that increasing the fiber content and length, increased the
tensile and flexural strength, but lowered the impact strength in the mechanical properties of natural
fibers.

The tensile and flexural strengths are mainly depending on the content and length of the fibers. It is
also observed that the impact strength is decreased with increasing fiber length and content.

As technology progresses the requirement of materials with improved mechanical properties also
increases. One way to improve mechanical properties of materials is by using natural fiber composites.

Chemically treated natural fibers, on the other hand, give even better mechanical properties to
materials. Materials reinforced with treated natural fibers were seen to have better mechanical
properties than materials reinforced with untreated natural fibers.

Since chemically treated natural fibers don’t lose their biodegradability, they are not a threat to the
environment and in the future can have many applications.

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Reference

[1] S. Dhakal and B. S. Keerthi Gowda, “An Experimental Study on Mechanical properties of
Banana Polyester Composite,” Mater. Today Proc., vol. 4, no. 8, pp. 7592–7598, 2017.

[2] D. Xu, C. Cerbu, H. Wang, and I. C. Rosca, “Analysis of the hybrid composite materials
reinforced with natural fibers considering digital image correlation (DIC) measurements,”
Mech. Mater., vol. 135, no. March, pp. 46–56, 2019.

[3] I. O. P. C. Series and M. Science, “Review of natural fiber composites Review of natural fiber
composites,” 2018.

[4] G. M. A. Khan, M. Terano, M. A. Gafur, and M. S. Alam, “Studies on the mechanical properties
of woven jute fabric reinforced poly(L-lactic acid) composites,” J. King Saud Univ. - Eng. Sci.,
vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 69–74, 2016.

[5] C. Wu, K. Yang, Y. Gu, J. Xu, R. O. Ritchie, and J. Guan, “Mechanical properties and impact
performance of silk-epoxy resin composites modulated by flax fibres,” Compos. Part A Appl.
Sci. Manuf., vol. 117, pp. 357–368, 2019.

[6] M. Xu, Z. Cui, L. Tu, Q. Xia, and Z. Chen, “The effect of elevated temperatures on the
mechanical properties of laminated bamboo,” Constr. Build. Mater., vol. 226, pp. 32–43, 2019.

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