Preparation and Properties Study of PVA/Bamboo Cellulose Composite Membrane

The effect of bamboo fiber content on mechanical properties, moisture permeability and light transmittance of composite membrane was studied. The results show that the tensile strength of the composite film is increased by 30%, and the mechanical properties of PVA film are improved obviously with the addition of bamboo cellulose, which can be used as a good reinforcing material of PVA matrix. Bamboo cellulose composite film is a kind of transparent material because of its high light transmittance.

The Effect of Different Fibre Lengths on the Mechanical Properties of Biocomposites

Kenaf is a nonwoody fibrous plant, and its fibre can be potentially used as a reinforcement in the matrix to produce biocomposite materials. The properties of biocomposite materials are highly dependent on the reinforcing material and the matrix used as a binder. This study used kenaf fibre as a reinforcing material with different compositions (10, 20, and 30 wt.%) and different fibre lengths (1 cm and 3 cm) in the matrix using the casting process. Low viscosity epoxy resin (635 thin epoxy resin) with a viscosity of 6 poise was used as the matrix. The results showed that the highest flexural strength, impact strength and shore hardness were obtained at a 30 wt.% kenaf fibre composition with a 1-cm kenaf fibre length, namely, 85 MPa, 338 KJ/m2 and 98 SHD, respectively. The length of the fibre in the matrix affects the mechanical properties of the resulting biocomposite. This condition is caused by kenaf fibres with a length of 1 cm being more dispersed in the matrix than fibres with a length of 3 cm.

Pengaruh Fraksi Volume Serat Jerami Terhadap Kekuatan Material Komposit Aplikasi Kayu Lapis

Polymer Matrix Composite (PMC) is a composite material that uses a polymer matrix most widely used in industry, transportation, and everyday life. Plywood is one of the current industrial needs that is growing rapidly and is becoming a leading export. However, besides that, the availability of raw materials is decreasing along with deforestation. Resulting in the need for alternative raw materials. Straw is one of the largest wastes that is not utilized optimally. It can be used as straw as a reinforcing material for environmentally friendly composite materials. Composite material was made using the hand lay up method, with straw fiber purchased with 4% NaOH treatment using Yukalac 157 BQTN-EX unsaturated polyester resin and MEPOXE A hardener. Then, tensile testing was carried out with volume fractions of straw fiber 5%, 10% 20% and 30 % This shows that the volume fraction of straw fiber affects the strength of the composite material. The tensile strength value of the straw fiber composite meets the minimum standard for tensile strength in plywood. Judging from the surface structure of the composite material, there are voids or air bubbles. However, the most visible in the sample with fractions of 10% and 20%. Further research needs to be done with other tests such as hit test, sandpaper test to meet the requirements for SNI standard plywood.

Valorization of Seaweed: Using Brown Algae Waste in Papermaking

In this work, the brown alga Dictyota dichotoma was explored as a new reinforcing material for papermaking. Performing the typical chemical tests for cellulosic substrates on D. dichotoma evidenced large amounts of ethanol:benzene extractable substances (7.2%) and ashes, algae-specific results. Also, even if lipophilic compounds are removed, brown seaweed are not a primary source of fibers because it contains low proportion of cellulose. However, its elevated content of insoluble carbohydrates (51.4%) suggest there is some potential in association with conventional cellulosic pulps, as fibrous elements contribute to sheet forming and other components fill the spaces in the paper web without noteworthy loss of strength. Extraction was carried out with clean processes: hydrogen peroxide and mixtures (hydrogen peroxide-hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide-sodium perborate), sodium hydroxide and sodium hypochlorite, always aiming for low reagent concentrations, in the range of 1-12%. The results show that sodium hydroxide and sodium hypochlorite were the treatments that lead to paper sheets with better structural and mechanical properties without further bleaching or refining, thus highlighting the suitability of these algae for papermaking applications.

Development of Leather Cutting Board from Plastic Waste

Cutting is the process in which goods or garment material are cut and converted into pattern shapes of the goods or garment components. There are two methods of Leather cutting, which are hand cutting and machine cutting. Hand cutting is done with the use of hand knife, cutting board and cutting patterns. Machine cutting can be done using semi-automatic cutting machines or fully-automatic cutting machines. Currently, in Ethiopia, different local and foreign investors are participating in leather products manufacturing. Most of the leather product manufacturing industry and some Small and Medium enterprise’s (SME’s) in the country are using leather cutting machines in order to cut leather goods or garment parts. Most of the industry and SMEs are using imported cutting board made of plastics and rubbers. However, these cutting boards are expensive. This research aimed at developing a cutting board made from HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene) plastic waste as main material, calcium carbonate as a filler and glass fiber as a reinforcing material. Primary and secondary data gathering techniques were applied simultaneously. Primary data were collected through interview and field observation. Secondary data was gathered by reviewing different literature. The cutting board developed through collecting HDPE plastic waste, washing, shredding and melting the shredded plastic with filler and reinforcing material. The melted plastic poured in to cutting board mold and cooled. The developed cutting board was compared with HDPE cutting board available in the local market. The developed board showed relative compression and hardness properties with the HDPE cutting board available in the market. In the cost analysis, the developed cutting board is cheaper than the cutting board which available in the market. However, the cutting board in the market has better surface texture and quality than the developed cutting board. Melting HDPE plastic waste using metal or clay cooking pots and charcoal fire is a tedious task and smoke from the fire will cause human health problem and will affect environment. Consequently, manual plastic melting method is not feasible for mass production, because it is difficult to control the amount of heat (charcoal fire) during melting process. Based on this the authors recommend using machine based plastic melting and molding during HDPE and related plastic recycling.

The Study of Effects of Aggregates on C.B.R. Value

In engineering practice, the earth construction requires the compaction of the existing subgrade by improving the density and strength of the data. All types of earth structures, i.e., highways, pavements, etc., rest directly on the soil beneath them. The safety of these entities depends upon the strength/bearing capacity of the soil over which these are constructed. Therefore, a proper analysis of the soil properties and the design of their compression parameter become necessary to ensure that these structures remain stable and are safe against unequal settlements. To determine the suitability of any soil type for use as subgrade, subbase, or base material, one of the parameters generally used is the California bearing ratio (C.B.R.). The coarse aggregates available as a reinforcing material can enhance soil properties and increase its C.B.R. value. This paper will study the effects of coarse aggregates on the C.B.R. value, determine suitable size range of aggregates with their percentage, and their application for the earth structures. Keywords: Soil, CBR, Aggregate, Compaction, pavement.

Strength Enhancement of Fibre Reinforced Peat with Fly Ash as Stabilized Subgrade Layer

High content of organic matter and fibre within peat results in a high degree of porosity; causing peat to have low bearing capacity. This study focuses on the application of nylon fibre as reinforcing material with fly ash as the chemical stabilizer to enhance the strength of the peat. The standard proctor tests were conducted to obtain the optimum moisture content (OMC) for all samples in which these OMC is then used for sample preparation of both the Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) tests and the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) tests. Samples for this study were categorized into control samples and modified samples for comparison purposes. Additives that were being used in this study are 5% cement, 5% nylon fibre and 10%, 15%, and 20% fly ash. For UCS test, the samples were cured for 7, 14, 28 and 56 days, whereas only 7 days of curing for CBR test. Throughout the study, improvements of strength were observed where sample added with 5% cement, 5% nylon fibre and 10% fly ash recorded the highest compressive strength value, of 123.71 kN/m2. As for CBR test, all samples exceeded the minimum requirement of 12% CBR value for subgrade design recommended by JKR Malaysia with the highest CBR value obtained from samples added with 5% cement and 10% fly ash. The CBR values were 43.85% and 43.70% for unsoaked and soaked condition, respectively.

Studies on Tribological and Statistical Modeling for Al/ZrO2 MMC’s

In recent era early growth and remarkable development with regards of composite materials has become a need of designing area on account of consideration to the drawbacks over conventional materials in improving material properties which includes viz, stiffness, density, toughness, and strength.This research focuses on utilizing the stir casting method of forming better metal matrix composite by using ZrO2 as reinforcing material thereby developing a composite material.Current study investigates Al357 alloy is fortified with different percentage of ZrO2 (3%, 5% and 7%) is concocted by the stir casting and studied for a microstructure, mechanical and the statistical modelling of wear analysis. Wear tracks of the as-cast alloy and its composites were examined using SEM. From the results it was concluded that compared to as-cast alloy A357/ 7 % ZrO2 displayed better properties compared followed by 5% and 3% composites. Keywords: MMC’S; ZrO2; Aluminium 357 alloy; Hardness test; Statistical Analysis.