Analysis of the Parameters Affecting the Stiffness of Short Sisal Fiber Biocomposites Manufactured by Compression-Molding

The use of natural fiber-based composites is on the rise in many industries. Thanks to their eco-sustainability, these innovative materials make it possible to adapt the production of components, systems and machines to the increasingly stringent regulations on environmental protection, while at the same time reducing production costs, weight and operating costs. Optimizing the mechanical properties of biocomposites is an important goal of applied research. In this work, using a new numerical approach, the effects of the volume fraction, average length, distribution of orientation and curvature of fibers on the Young’s modulus of a biocomposite reinforced with short natural fibers were studied. Although the proposed approach could be applied to any biocomposite, sisal fibers and an eco-sustainable thermosetting matrix (green epoxy) were considered in both simulations and the associated experimental assessment. The results of the simulations showed the following effects of the aforementioned parameters on Young’s modulus: a linear growth with the volume fraction, nonlinear growth as the length of the fibers increased, a reduction as the average curvature increased and an increase in stiffness in the x-y plane as the distribution of fiber orientation in the z direction decreased.

Wear and Morphological Analysis on Basalt/Sisal Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Poly lactic acid Composites

The investigation was undertaken to evaluate the wear behavior of basalt fiber and sisal fiber reinforced polylactic acid PLA composites. Basalt saline-treated chopped fiber and treated sisal chopped fiber were alloyed with polylactic acid and the samples were obtained using an injection mold in a twin-screw extruder. Three weight fraction samples were prepared, namely PBSi-1 (90% by weight polylactic acid, 5% by weight basalt and 5% by weight sisal), PBSi-2 (85% by weight polylactic acid, 7.5% by weight basalt and 7.5% by weight sisal) and PBSi-3 (80% by weight polylactic acid, 10% by weight basalt and 10% by weight sisal). The wear behavior of the prepared specimen were determined using a Pin-on-disc. The wear loss was measured at four different loads (10 N, 20 N, 30 N and 40 N) and four different sliding speeds (100 rpm, 150 rpm, 200 rpm and 250). The wear mechanism map was generated based on the wear regime nature using the Fuzzy Cluster C-means algorithm. The PBSi-3 composite showed a more mild wear regime than the severe and ultra-severe wear, due to the increase in the basalt and sisal fiber content within the composite that results in an increase of hardness and wear resistance. The predominant mechanism observed in the SEM image of PBSi-3 composite is ironing, which indicates the lesser wear occurrence in the composite.

Performance Evaluation On Structural Behaviour Of Sisal Fibre Reinforced Concrete

All over the world, construction industries looking forward for the green materials to meet the structural integrity and sustainability in terms of arresting micro cracks in the concrete and also for a secondary reinforcement materials for addition in the concrete. Internal micro cracks in the concrete will reduce the longetivity of the structure and also it results in structural failure. The use of fibres in the concrete is currently used as a secondary reinforcement for strengthening the reinforced concrete members. To make the concrete as a sustainable material and to improve structural integrity in this research Sisal Fibre was used as a secondary reinforcement. Natural fiber such as sisal fibre, appears as an one of the good alternative since they are available in fibrous form and can be extracted from plant leaves at very low cost. In this work, effect of sisal fiber on the strength of concrete for M 25 grade has been studied by varying the percentage of fibers in concrete. Fiber content were varied by 0.05%, 0.10%, 0.15%, 0.20%, 0.25%, 0.30%, 0.35% and 0.40% by volume of concrete. Cubes, Cylinder and Prism were cast to evaluate the Strength Characteristics and to optimize dosage level of fibre in concrete. The reinforced concrete beam was cast by optimum dosage level of fibre to evaluate structural behavior of concrete such as Load deflection, Ductility factor and Stiffness. The result proven, there is significant improvement in structural behavior of Sisal Fibre added Reinforced Concrete when compared to control concrete.