Mechanical properties of randomly oriented short Sansevieria trifasciata fibre/epoxy composites

Abstract

The tensile, flexural and impact properties of randomly oriented short Sansevieria trifasciata fiber/epoxy (STFE) composites were evaluated. Composites were fabricated using raw Sansevieria trifasciata fiber (STFs) with varying lengths (mm) and weight (%) percents of fibers viz. 10(30), 20(35), 30(40) and 40 (45). When the length of the STFs was increased, the tensile, flexural and impact strength properties of the composites were increased up to a 30mm fiber length, and then a curtailment in properties occurred when fiber length further increased. All the fibers were treated with alkali solutionand composites were prepared by hand lay-up method. STFE composites showed a regular trend of an increase in properties with fiber weight percent until 40% and afterwards a decrease in properties of composites with greater fiber weight percent. Tensile tests revealed that the tensile strength was about 75.22 MPa, the Young's modulus was 1.05 GPA and the elongation at the break was 10.07%. The flexural strength and modulus were estimated around 82.33MPa, 3GPa, respectively. Impact tests exhibited strength of approximately 8.97J/cm2. The analysis of the tensile, flexural and impact properties of short STFE composites displayed a critical fiber length and optimum fiber weight percent of 30mm and 40%, respectively. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) studies were carried out to evaluate the fiber/matrix interactions when fiber weight increased. FTIR studies indicated functional groups could engage in the covalent and hydrogen bonds formation. Chemical resistances of the STFE composites were significantly improved for all chemical except for Toluene. These results indicate that high performance all natural products composite materials can be developed from the resources that are readily available locally.