Effect of Rice Flour Types on the Properties of Nonwoven Pineapple Leaf Fiber and Thermoplastic Rice Starch Composites

Thermoplastic starches and a nonwoven pineapple leaf sheet (NPALF) were prepared. Two types of flours were used to prepare thermoplastic starches (TPSs) which were Rice flour thermoplastic starch (RTPS) and Glutinous rice flour thermoplastic starch (GTPS). Two layers of thermoplastic starches and NPALF layer were sandwiched and pressed by a hot pressing machine at 150°C with 1500 psi for 15 min. All composites were investigated their densities and tensile properties. The density of all composite types had a lower density than each neat TPSs and types of rice flours did not affect their densities. The tensile property results confirmed NPALF could be used as a reinforcing agent both in GTPS and RTPS composites but their tensile improvement effectiveness in both systems are different. NPALF composite with RTPS did not affect the tensile strength but provided a slight improvement in modulus. Remarkably, NPALF composite using GTPS explored the great improvement performance both in strength and modulus which were increased up to 174% and 308% comparing with neat GTPS. SEM micrograph evidence clearly showed good wetting between GTPS and the reinforcement layer in the composite. This is resulting in the NPALF-GTPS composite showed a strong improvement in tensile properties.

Study on Workability High Strength Concrete Containing Pineapple Leaf Fiber (PALF)

The addition of fibers in concrete increases bridging force in interfacial transition zones inside the concrete matrix. Pineapple Leaf Fiber (PALF) is a natural fiber that has the potential to replace artificial fibers as reinforcement on concrete. As reinforcement fiber in concrete, PALF will undergo fibrillation and water absorption in concrete mixture and will change the mechanical properties of fresh concrete. So, the purpose of this study is to study the workability characteristics of fresh state concrete given PALF. Some variations of PALF composition are 0.04, 0.09, and 0.15 % wt. of cement is mixed into fresh concrete mixture with water-cement (w/c) ratio variations of 0.35, 0.38, and 0.41. The planned concrete is high-strength concrete, then the provisions of determination of coarse and fine aggregates using sieve analysis according to high-strength concrete material standards and concrete mixtures are given superplasticizer 0.09% wt. of cement constantly for all mixtures. A slump test method is still an option in this study, where this method becomes the standard to determine workability effectively. The results showed that an increase in concrete strength was achieved in the addition of PALF composition in concrete compared to control (normal concrete), in addition to the tendency of the relationship between w/c ratio, slump value, and compressive strength in all PALF variations achieved in this study.

The Influence of Pineapple Leaf Fiber Orientation and Volume Fraction on Methyl Methacrylate-Based Polymer Matrix for Prosthetic Socket Application

This work reports on the use of low-cost pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) as an alternative reinforcing material to the established, commonly used material for prosthetic socket fabrication which is carbon-fiber-reinforced composite (CFRC) due to the high strength and stiffness of carbon fiber. However, the low range of loads exerted on a typical prosthetic socket (PS) in practice suggests that the use of CFRC may not be appropriate because of the high material stiffness which can be detrimental to socket-limb load transfer. Additionally, the high cost of carbon fiber avails opportunities to look for an alternative material as a reinforcement for composite PS development. PALF/Methyl Methacrylate-based (MMA) composites with 0°, 45° and 90° fiber orientations were made with 5–50 v/v fiber volume fractions. The PALF/MMA composites were subjected to a three-point flexural test to determine the effect of fiber volume fraction and fiber orientation on the flexural properties of the composite. The results showed that 40% v/v PALF/MMA composite with 0° fiber orientation recorded the highest flexural strength (50 MPa) and stiffness (1692 MPa). Considering the average load range exerted on PS, the flexural performance of the novel composite characterized in this work could be suitable for socket-limb load transfer for PS fabrication.

Low-Velocity Impact Analysis of Pineapple Leaf Fiber (PALF) Hybrid Composites

The low-velocity impact behaviour of pineapple leaf fiber, PALF reinforce epoxy composite (P), PALF hybrid (GPG), and four-layer woven glass fiber (GGGG) composite was investigated. As for post-impact analysis, the damage evaluation was assessed through photographic images and X-ray computed tomography, using CT scan techniques. The key findings from this study are that a positive hybrid effect of PALF as a reinforcement was seen where the GPG shows the delayed time taken for damage initiation and propagation through the whole sample compared to GGGG. This clearly shows that the addition of fibers does have comparable composite properties with a fully synthetic composite. Through the visual inspection captured by photographic image, the presence of woven fiber glass mat in GPG presents a different damage mode compared to P. Moreover, CT scan results show extended internal damage at the cross-section of all impacted composite.

Manufacturing Parameters Optimization and Modeling of PxGyEz Hybrid Composite for High Flexural Strength Using Taguchi Robust Experimental Design Technique and General Regression Analysis

With the continuous need for sustainable, environmentally friendly, and low-cost systems, processes, and materials, natural fibers have been a major topic of discussion in the materials science community as it has increasingly found acceptance in material development as an alternative to synthetic fibers due to environmental concerns. Although many studies have been carried out in this regard, the optimal flexural performance of pineapple leaf fiber/synthetic fiber hybrid reinforced composite has not been studied even with its promising application in aviation, health, and fitness, marine, etc. In this study, a Pineapple Leaf fiber (PALF)/Glass fiber Epoxy hybrid composite PxGyEz (with x, y, and z representing the volume fraction of pineapple leaf fiber, the volume fraction of glass fiber, and fiber length respectively) was developed and its flexural properties optimized and modeled with regards to the variable manufacturing parameters of x, y, and z respectively. For the quality characteristics (flexural strength) investigated, the Minitab®19 software was used to analyze the Taguchi robust experiment design technique on a higher the better basis. The optimum combination of the control factors was found at x = 20%, y = 20%, and z = 25mm. The optimized composite P20G20E25 possessed a flexural strength of 144.4994MPa which was only a 7.17% deviation from the predicted optimum flexural strength. Analysis of variance showed that the PALF had the highest contribution of 23.97% to the flexural strength of the PxGyEz, glass fiber 7.13%, and fiber length 12.79%. SEM Images of the PALF, glass fiber, and the fractured surface of the optimized material P20G20E25 revealed the surface structure which explained their different contribution to the flexural strength of the materials. An equation for the prediction of the flexural properties of PxGyEz was derived from the regression model and it had an approximately 77.57% agreement with experimentation.