AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF THE FIBRE ASPECT RATIO AND THE

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF BIO-DEGRADABLE WOOD-POLYMER COMPOSITES

NAME: HEPHLIN ROBIN SUPERVISOR: DR. SOON KOK HENG
INTRODUCTION LITERATURE REVIEW METHODOLOGY
Aspect ratio SELECTION OF SELECTION OF
• Plastics are used widely for their Wood FIBER POLYMER
• With increasing aspect ratio, the tensile
durability and versatility. Fiber (WOOD) (BIODEGRADABLE)

• Plastics immediately show their Wood- strength of the composite increases. However,
Polymer there was a slow decrease in tensile strength
disadvantage when they are MERANTI WOOD
PHA
Composite after the aspect ratio exceeded 200 was found by
required to be stiffer or deform CHEMICAL
Ryu et al. (2001).
when placed under higher loads. PHA TREATMENT

• Industries began to experiment and • The particle size had an effect on how the
HEAT TREATMENT
produce composites that composite performed in the Izod impact testing as
have a polymer matrix with the larger the particle size meant that the greater SIEVING/
GRINDING
addition of an organic or inorganic the notched energy of impact due to the
SEPERATION
reinforcement. increase in fracture surface area (Stark & (ASPECT RATIO)
Rowlands 2003)
PHA PLA PBS PE PTT PPP

FABRICATION OF Heat Chemical

BIODEGRADABLE COMPOSITES Treatment Treatment
Mathematical modelling: Halpin-Tsai Equation At 90℃ 5% NaOH for
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES CONDUCTING
TESTS
for 24hrs. 24 hrs

AIM: To analyse and study how various different fibre

aspect ratios of wood-polymer composites can have an COMPARING THE ACQUIRED RESULTS WITH THE
EXISTING MATHEMATICAL MODEL
effect on the mechanical properties of biodegradable wood-
polymer composites.
PRELIMINARY RESULTS
OBJECTIVES:
• To determine the effects of different fibre aspect ratios
on the mechanical properties of the wood-polymer
composites.
Aspect
• To determine and study the mechanical effects of ratio
4 7 9
percentage loading of the wood-polymer composites.
Elasticity
• To determine and analyse the interaction between (GPa) 5.71 6.81 7.52
various aspect ratios and the percentage loading.
• To predict/interpret the mechanical behaviour of
Meranti wood by utilizing the Halpin-Tsai and Mori-
Tanaka model.

PROBLEM STATEMENT/RESEARCH GAP FUTURE WORKS

• Bio0degradable wood-polymer composites.
• Comparison of the theoretical properties of the wood-
polymer composites with the mechanical properties that
were obtained via the experiments
• Fabrication and preparation of the specimens.
• Conduct tensile test, flexural test and hardness test.
REFERCENCES • Analyze the results and compare with mathematical
Ryu, SR & Lee, DJ 2001, ‘Effects of fiber aspect ratio, fiber content, and bonding agent on tensile and
tear properties of short-fiber reinforced rubber’, KSME International Journal, vol. 15, no. 1, pp.
model.
35–43.
Stark, NM 2003, ‘Effects of Wood Fiber Characteristics on Mechanical Properties of • Establish and report relevant findings.
Wood/Polypropylene Composites’, Wood and Fiber Science, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 167–174.