Evaluation of the Mechanical Behavior of Composites Reinforced with Vegetal Fibers
M.L. Sánchez, L.Y. Morales, J.D. Caicedo
Abstract. At present, composites reinforced with vegetal fibers constitute one of the main areas of interest in the research and development of new materials. The chemical characteristics of most vegetable fibers and the fact of their being rich in hydroxyl groups determine their mechanical behavior and allow them to be used as reinforcement in polymeric composites, which use resins based on polyurethanes. This study analyzes the effect of fiber orientation and surface treatment on the mechanical performance of panels constructed using non-conventional materials made from fibers and resin of vegetable origin. To evaluate the effect of the orientation of the fibers on the performance of the composite, two fiber typologies were analyzed: long unidirectional fibers and randomly distributed short fibers. To improve the adhesion of the fibers to the matrix, a process of surface modification was carried out, using two types of treatment: chemical and plasma. As a matrix of the composite, the use of a material of vegetal origin is proposed: a polyurethane from Higuerilla. The fibers were obtained via the mechanical method. A pressing method was used for the construction of the panels. The physical characterization was based on the determination of the density, effective absorption, and dimensional stability. The mechanical characterization focused on the determination of the maximum tensile strength through compression and static bending tests. The results obtained demonstrate the viability of the use of vegetal fibers as reinforcement for natural composites.
Keywords
Vegetal Fibers, Mechanical Properties, Static Bending, Tensile, Compression
Published online , 9 pages
Copyright © 2018 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: M.L. Sánchez, L.Y. Morales, J.D. Caicedo, ‘Evaluation of the Mechanical Behavior of Composites Reinforced with Vegetal Fibers’, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 7, pp 440-448, 2018
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21741/9781945291838-41
The article was published as article 41 of the book Non-Conventional Materials and Technologies
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