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Tensile and flexural properties of polymer composites reinforced by flax, jute and sisal fibres

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Abstract

Natural fibre composites are a class of materials that are currently replacing the synthetic fibre composites for practical applications. This paper deals with the fabrication and investigation of hybrid natural/natural fibre composites obtained by a new technique based on statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) by using the properties of the individual fibre composites. The influences of type of fibres, such as flax, jute and sisal, the type of chemical treatment and the volume fraction of fibre on the mechanical properties such as tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength and flexural modulus of the composites, were evaluated. Mathematical models for mechanical properties were developed using the response surface methodology (RSM). Statistical analysis of the results showed that the mechanical properties are influenced principally by the volume fraction of fibre, then the type of fibres. On the opposite side, the type of chemical treatment has a very weak significance effect. Then, the best mechanical proprieties of composites were achieved at the highest volume fraction of fibre and when used the sodium bicarbonate NaHCO3 for treated fibres. Finally, the developed hybrid composite exhibited superior properties compared to the previous composites based on individual fibre composites when the fibre content is at 80 wt% of jute and 20 wt% of flax.

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Abbreviations

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

ASTM:

American Standards of Technical Material

B :

Width of the beam, mm

BBD:

Box-Behnken design

DF:

Degrees of freedom

E f :

Mean flexural modulus, GPa

E t :

Mean tensile modulus, MPa

L :

Support span, mm

M :

Slope, N/mm

MS:

Mean squares

P f :

Maximum load, N

R 2 :

Coefficient of determination

RSM:

Response surface methodology

SC:

Sum of squares

VF :

Volume fraction of fibre, cm3

W m :

Weight of matrix, g

W f :

Weight of fibre, g

X1 :

Type of fibres

X2 :

Type of chemical treatment

X3 :

Volume fraction of fibre, wt.%

σ f :

Mean flexural strength, MPa

σ t :

Mean tensile strength, GPa

ρ f :

Density of fibre, g/cm3

ρ m :

Density of matrix, g/cm3

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Technology Sciences, University of Mentouri Brothers Constantine, P.O Box 325, Ain-El-Bey Way, 25017, Constantine, Algeria

    Asma Benkhelladi & Ali Bouchoucha

  2. Innovative Technologies Laboratory (LTI), Higher National School of Technology, ex biomedical, Dergana, 16087, Algiers, Algeria

    Hamdi Laouici

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  1. Asma Benkhelladi
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Correspondence to Hamdi Laouici.

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Benkhelladi, A., Laouici, H. & Bouchoucha, A. Tensile and flexural properties of polymer composites reinforced by flax, jute and sisal fibres. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 108, 895–916 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-020-05427-2

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