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Effect of Span Length on the Tensile Properties of Natural Fibers

Article in Advanced Materials Research · July 2011

DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.264-265.445

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Advanced Materials Research Vols. 264-265 (2011) pp 445-450
Online available since 2011/Jun/30 at www.scientific.net
© (2011) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland
doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.264-265.445

Effect of Span Length on the Tensile Properties of Natural Fibers

S. Biswas1,a, Q. Ahsan2,b, I. Verpoest3,c and M. Hasan4,d

1,2,4
Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Bangladesh University of
Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
3
Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
3001 Heverlee, Belgium
a b c
rtrshuvo_buet@yahoo.com, ahsanq@mme.buet.ac.bd, ignaas.verpoest@mtm.kuleuven.be,
d
mahbubh@mme.buet.ac.bd
Key words: Natural fibers (jute, bamboo and coir); Span length; Tensile properties.

Abstract. Natural fibers are widely used as “reinforcing agents” in polymer composites. The aim of
the current study is to evaluate the effect of span length on the tensile properties of several natural
fibers (Vietnamese coir and bamboo and Bangladeshi jute). Tensile testing of jute, bamboo and coir
fibers was carried out by varying span length (5, 10, 15, 25 and 35 mm). The Young’s modulus and
strain to failure were corrected by using newly developed analytical equations in order to correlate
the Young’s modulus and strain to failure of natural fibers. Scanning electron microscopy of the
fibers was also carried out. It is clearly observed that the Young’s modulus increased with an
increase in span length. Whereas tensile strength and strain to failure decreased with an increase in
the span length of single fibers. The correction method resulted in a high Young’s modulus for
larger span, while strain to failure found was lower compared to smaller span. This is because larger
span length helps to minimize the machine displacement compared to smaller ones. Among all
fibers, the Young’s modulus of bamboo fiber was highest, followed by jute and coir respectively.
Jute fiber had smoother surface and compact structure compared to other two fibers.

Introduction
Natural fiber composites have recently attracted a considerable attention in the composite materials
research community as well as in industry. This is due to a range of potential advantages of natural
fibers, especially with regard to their environmental performance. Natural fibers are renewable
resources and even when their composite waste is incinerated, they do not cause net emission of
carbon dioxide to the environment (i.e. these materials are CO2 neutral). Natural fibers are
inherently biodegradable, abundantly available and relatively cheap to cultivate [1]. Furthermore,
these fibers are typically less abrasive than glass or carbon fibers. In recent years, wide range of
research has been carried out on fiber reinforced polymer composites [2-6]. Natural fibers can not
compete with the impressive properties of synthetic fibers such as carbon and glass fibers due to
their low strength. The main objectives of the current work are to characterize various natural fibers
and determine mechanical properties of fibers. The specific objective is to determine the actual
Young’s modulus and strain to failure from obtained experimental results.

Experimental Procedure
Method
Tensile testing of jute, bamboo and coir (brown) single fibers (span length of 5 mm, 10 mm, 15
mm, 25 mm & 35 mm) was performed by using a mini tensile testing machine.
Specimen Preparation and Measurement
Initially the fiber (randomly taken) was cut down to a particular length and weight was taken (for
bamboo and coir fibers). The fibers were glued in between two paper frame (Fig. 1) to conform a
good gripping and straight direction to the test clamps. This paper frame was clamped in the

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446 Advances in Materials and Processing Technologies II

machine at top to bottom and cut the paper frame carefully (Fig. 2) before testing. Diameter of the
jute fiber was measured using optical microscope. The cross-head speeds used for jute, bamboo and
coir fibers were 0.5 mm/min, 1 mm/min and 5 mm/min respectively. Again 200 N loadcells were
used for bamboo and coir fibers, while 5 N loadcell was used for jute fibers.
Tensile strength was calculated by using Eq. 1:
F
σ ═ max (1)
A

Where σ is tensile strength, Fmax is maximum force and A is cross-sectional area.

Cross-sectional area was measured by using Eq. 2 (for jute fibers) and Eq. 3 (for bamboo and
coir fibers):

d 2
A = π.( ) (2)
2
and
m
A= (3)
ρ×L
Where m is mass, V is volume, L is length, ρ is density and d is diameter.
The Young’s modulus was measured from the linear portion of the stress/strain curve.

Figure 1 Specimens for tensile test. Figure 2 Specimen clamping system.

The surface morphology of jute, bamboo and coir fibers was studied by using an environmental
scanning microscope (ESEM).

Results and Discussion

Stress/strain curves of jute, bamboo and coir (brown) fibers (25 mm span) are shown in Fig. 3,
while uncorrected and corrected extrapolated curves (1/span vs the Young’s modulus and strain to
failure) and tensile strength for the span length of 5 mm, 10 mm, 15 mm, 25 mm and 35 mm of jute,
bamboo and brown coir fibers are shown in Fig. 4(a), 4(b) and Fig. 4(c) respectively. It seems that
with an increase in span length, the Young’s modulus increased. On the other hand, the tensile
strength and strain to failure decreased with an increase in span length. The stress-stress curves for
coir fibers (Fig. 3(c)) have a knuckle pattern unlike found in other two fibers. This knuckle indicates
the start of plastic deformation in the case of coir fiber.
As mentioned by Bledski and Gassan, the longer the stressed distance of the natural fiber, the
more inhomogenities will be in the stressed fiber segment, weakening the structure [7]. Thus the
strength decreased with clamping length. For the fiber modulus, however, the situation is reverse.
As no extensometer can be used in current set-up and machine displacement is used for the modulus
determination, at longer gauge lengths, the relative effect of slippage in the clamps will be smaller
(Fig. 4(d)).
 Advanced Materials Research Vols. 264-265 447

700 1200

600
(a) (b)
1000

500
800
Stress (MPa)

Stress (MPa)
400
600
300

200 400

100 200

0
0
0.00% 0.50% 1.00% 1.50% 2.00%
0.00% 1.00% 2.00% 3.00% 4.00% 5.00%
Strain
Strain

300

(c)
250

200
Stress (MPa)

150

100

50

0
0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00% 80.00%
Strain

Figure 3 Stress/strain curves for (a) jute, (b) bamboo and (c) coir fiber
at a span length of 25 mm.

Correction of Tensile Properties

Corrected Young’s modulus and strain to failure can be calculated by using the following steps:
∆Ltotal L0
a. α i = − (4)
F E0 × Ai

∆Ltotal ε × L0 1 L0
b. = = × (5)
F σ × Ai E Ai

∆Lgrip α i × Ai × σ
c. = (6)
L0 L0

∆L fiber ∆Ltotal ∆L grip

d. 〈Corrected 〉 = − (7)
L0 L0 L0

Where α i is machine displacement for each fiber, L0 is original span length, E is the Young’s
modulus for each fiber, E0 is extrapolated Young’s modulus, Ai is cross-sectional area for each
fiber, F is force, ε is strain and α is stress.
448 Advances in Materials and Processing Technologies II

45 70
Jute (uncorrected) Jute (uncorrected)
Young's Modulus (GPa)

40
60

Strain to Failure (%)

35 Jute (corrected) Jute (corrected)
30 50
Bamboo
25 (uncorrected) Bamboo
40 (uncorrected)
20 Bamboo
(corrected) 30 Bamboo
15 (corrected)
Coir (uncorrected)
10 20 Coir (uncorrected)
5 Coir (corrected)
10
Coir (corrected)
0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25
1/Span (1/mm) 1/Span (1/mm)
(a) (b)

0.2
0.18
Machine Displacement
1000 Jute Fibers
Tensile Strength (MPa)

0.16
900
800 Jute Fibers 0.14
700
(mm/N)
0.12
600 Bamboo
0.1
500 Bamboo Fibers Fibers
0.08
400
300 0.06
200 Coir Fibers 0.04 Coir Fibers
100
0.02
0
0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25
0 10 20 30 40
1/Span (mm) Span Length (mm)
(c) (d)

Figure 4 (a) Young’s modulus vs 1/span curve for jute, bamboo and coir fibers (uncorrected and
corrected), (b) strain to failure vs 1/span curve for jute, bamboo and coir fibers (uncrected and
corrected), (c) tensile strength vs 1/span curve for jute, bamboo and coir fibers and (d) machine
displacement vs span length curves.

Comparison between corrected and uncorrected results is shown in from Table 1 to Table 3. The
average Young’s modulus, tensile strength and strain to failure of jute fibers found are 29 GPa, 360
MPa and 1.36 % respectively. The same for bamboo and coir fibers are 35.5 GPa, 660 MPa, 2.26 %
and 3.80 GPa, 198 MPa and 36 % respectively. Gassan and Bledzki found the Young’s modulus,
tensile strength and strain to failure for jute fibers of 26.5 GPa, 393-773 MPa and 1.5-1.8 %
respectively in their research [7]. Allan mentioned in his paper that the Young’s modulus, tensile
strength and strain to failure of bamboo fibers were 18.5-30 GPa, 450-800 MPa and 1-3 %
accordingly [8]. Again Netravali found the modulus, strength and strain to failure for coir fibers to
be 4-6 GPa, 175 MPa and 30 % respectively [9]. Thus the experimental values found in current
research are quite close to those found before.
It is observed that both the Young’s modulus and strain to failure had scattered values for 5 mm
span length, while the scattering was much lower for 35 mm span length. Again the average
Young’s modulus found is very close to extrapolated values after correction. It is also found that
strain to failure still depends on its span length after correction.
 Advanced Materials Research Vols. 264-265 449

Table 1 Comparison between corrected and uncorrected Young’s modulus and strain to failure of
jute fiber with different span length.
Span Young’s Strain to Corrected Young’s Corrected Strain
Modulus (GPa) Failure (%) Modulus (GPa) to Failure (%)
5 mm 8.68 ± 3.05 4.93 ± 1.15 29.00 ± 15.34 1.51 ± 0.79
10 mm 14.43 ± 3.85 2.93 ± 0.73 29.75 ± 9.82 1.49 ± 0.39
15 mm 17.95 ± 5.5 2.14 ± 0.69 27.22 ± 8.37 1.37 ±0.47
25 mm 21.68 ± 5.47 1.58 ± 0.21 26.44± 6.08 1.29 ± 0.18
35 mm 27.3 ± 8.51 1.22 ± 0.36 29.73± 8.81 1.16 ± 0.34
Average 28.80± 9.51

Table 2 Comparison between corrected and uncorrected Young’s modulus and strain to failure of
bamboo fiber with different span length.
Span Young’s Strain to Corrected Young’s Corrected Strain
Modulus (GPa) Failure (%) Modulus (GPa) to Failure (%)
5 mm 9.84 ± 2.23 7.53 ± 2.39 34.33 ± 14.08 2.50 ± 0.45
15 mm 22.68 ± 1.45 3.90 ± 0.74 36.10 ± 4.03 2.46 ±0.53
25 mm 23.75 ± 1.92 3.02 ± 0.91 30.00± 4.33 2.42 ± 0.80
35 mm 33.36 ± 3.15 2.00 ± 0.72 41.38± 4.14 1.68 ± 0.43
Average 35.52± 8.29

Table 3 Comparison between corrected and uncorrected Young’s modulus and strain to failure of
coir (brown) fiber with different span length.
Span Young’s Strain to Corrected Young’s Corrected Strain
Modulus (GPa) Failure ( % ) Modulus (GPa) to Failure ( % )
5 mm 2.00 ± 0.22 63.78 ± 4.17 3.72 ± 1.08 51.64± 15.23
15 mm 2.77 ± 0.32 44.99±10.62 3.79 ± 0.50 40.36 ± 11.67
25 mm 3.67 ± 0.90 28.11 ±5.96 3.76 ± 0.85 27.33 ±6.11
35 mm 3.69 ± 0.38 27.04 ± 6.77 3.90± 0.50 27.04 ± 6.34
Average 3.80± 0.75

Surface Morphology

Environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) was used to investigate the surface
morphology of fibers. Fig. 5(a), 5(b) and 5(c) show the structure of jute, bamboo and coir fibers
respectively. It is observed that jute fiber had more smooth and compact structure compared to
bamboo and coir fibers. Bamboo fibers had more cracks compared to other fibers.

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 5 SEM images of (a) jute, (b) bamboo and (c) coir fiber.
450 Advances in Materials and Processing Technologies II

Summary
In the current study, tensile properties were determined on the selected test fibers with varying span
length. Surface morphology was also carried out by using ESEM. Based on the experimental results,
the following can be concluded:
■ The Young’s modulus increased, when span length increased.
■ With an increase in the span length, tensile strength and strain to failure decreased.
■ With an increase in the span length, machine displacement (α) also decreased.
■ Among jute, bamboo and coir fibers, bamboo fibers had the highest Young’s modulusvalues.
■ The surface of jute fiber was smooth, while bamboo and coir fibers were a bit rough.
The results of present study also reveal that accurate results of natural fibers could be successfully
found by using newly developed analytical equations.

References
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plastic, Comp. Sci. Tech., Vol. 63 (2003), 1259-1264.
[4] A.C.N. Singleton, On the mechanical properties, deformation and fracture of a natural
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[6] M.T. Moe and K. Liao, Durability of bamboo-glass reinforced polymer matrix hybrid
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 Advances in Materials and Processing Technologies II
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Effect of Span Length on the Tensile Properties of Natural Fibers

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