Abstract
The morphological, physical, and mechanical properties of the nonwood plant fiber bundles of ramie, pineapple, sansevieria, kenaf, abaca, sisal, and coconut fiber bundles were investigated. All fibers except those of coconut fiber had noncircular cross-sectional shapes. The crosssectional area of the fiber bundles was evaluated by an improved method using scanning electron microscope images. The coefficient factor defined as the ratio of the cross-sectional area determined by diameter measurement, to the cross-sectional area determined by image analysis was between 0.92 and 0.96 for all fibers. This indicated that the area determined by diameter measurement was available. The densities of the fiber bundles decreased with increasing diameters. The diameters of each fiber species had small variation of around 3.4%-9.8% within a specimen. The tensile strength and Young’s modulus of ramie, pineapple, and sansevieria fiber bundles showed excellent values in comparison with the other fibers. The tensile strength and Young’s modulus showed a decreasing trend with increasing diameter of fiber bundles.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Kessler RW, Kohler R (1996) New strategies for exploiting flax and hemp. Chemtec 26:34–42
Bledzki AK, Gassan J (1999) Composites reinforced with cellulose based fibres. Prog Polym Sci 24:221–274
Nechtawal A, Mieck K-P, Reussmann T (2003) Developments in the characterization of natural fiber properties and in the use of natural fibers for composites. Compos Sci Technol 63:1273–1279
American Society for Testing and Materials (1978) ASTM D 3379-75 standard test method for tensile strength and Young’s modulus for high-modulus single-filament materials. ASTM, Philadelphia, pp 847–852
Chand N, Hasmi SAR (1993) Effect of plant age on structure and strength of sisal fibre. Met Mater Process 5:51–57
Belmares H, Barrera A, Castillo E, Verheugen E, Monjaras M, Patfoort GA, Bucquoye MEN (1981) New composite materials from natural hard fibers. Ind Eng Chem Prod Res Dev 20:555–561
Paul A, Sabu T (1997) Electrical properties of natural-fiberreinforced low density polyethylene composites: a comparison with carbon black and glass-fiber-filled low density polyethylene composites. J Appl Polym Sci 63:247–266
Joseph PV, Marcelo SR, LHC Mattoso, Kuruvilla J, Sabu T (2002) Environmental effects on the degradation behaviour of sisal fiber reinforced polypropylene composites. Compos Sci Technol 62:1357–1372
Sanjuan MA, Toledo Filho RD (1998) Effectiveness of crack control at early age on the corrosion of steel bars in low modulus sisal and coconut fibre-reinforced mortars. Cement Concrete Res 28:555–565
Mishra S, Amar KM, Lawrence TD, Manjusri M, George H (2004) A review of pineapple leaf fibers, sisal fibers and their biocomposites. Macromol Mater Eng 289:955–974
Baley C (2002) Analysis of the flax fibers tensile behaviour and analysis of the tensile stiffness increase. Compos Part A Appl Sci 33:939–948
Goswani BC, Rajesh DA, David H (2004) Textile sizing. Marcel Dekker, New York, pp 27–28
Tao W, Calamari TA, Shih FF, Cao C (1997) Characterization of kenaf fiber bundles and their nonwoven mats. TAPPI J 80:162–166
Yamada J (2002) Radiative properties of fibers with non-circular cross sectional shapes. J Quant Spectrosc Radiat Transfer 73:261–272
Dunaway DL, Thiel BL, Srinivasan SG, Viney C (1995) Characterizing the cross-sectional geometry of thin, non-cylindrical, twisted fibres (spider silk). J Mater Sci 30:4161–4170
Perez-Rigueiro J, Elices M, Llorca J, Viney C (2001) Tensile properties of silkworm silk obtained by forced silking. J Appl Polym Sci 82:1926–1935
Selivanova LF, Polatovskaya RA (1977) Area of an irregular fibre cross section. Fiber Chem 9:170–172
Howatson AM, Lund PG, Todd JD (1992) Engineering tables and data. Kluwer, London, p 41
Pickering KL, Abdella A, Ji C, McDonald AG, Franich RA (2003) The effect of silane coupling agents on radiata pine fiber for use in thermoplastic matrix composite. Compos Part A Appl Sci 34:915–926
Hornsby PR, Hinrichsen E, Trivedi K (1997) Preparation and properties of polypropylene composites reinforced with wheat and flax straw fibers. Part II. Analysis of composite microstructure and mechanical properties. J Mater Sci 32:1009–1015
Shibata M, Takachiyo K, Ozawa K, Yosomiya R, Takeishi H (2002) Biodegradable polyester composites reinforced with short abaca fiber. J Appl Polym Sci 85:129–138
Zhang M, Kawai S, Sasaki H (1994) Production and properties of composite fiberboard I. Influence of mixing ratio of jute/wood fiber on the properties of boards. Mokuzai Gakkaishi 40:816–823
Bledzki AK, Gassan J (1994) Composites reinforced with cellulose based fibers. Prog Polym Sci 24:221–274
Fengel D, Wegener G (1984) Wood: chemistry, ultrastructure, reactions. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, p 88
Angelini LG, Lazzeri A, Levita G, Fontanelli D, Bozzi C (2000) Ramie [Bohmeria nivea (L) Gaud] and Spanish broom (Spartinum junceum L.) fibers for composite materials: agronomical aspects, morphology and mechanical properties. Ind Crop Prod 11:145–161
Yamanaka A, Yoshikawa M, Abe S, Tsutsumi M, Oohazama T, Kitagawa T, Fujishiro H, Ema K, Izumi Y, Nishijima S (2005) Effect of vapor-phase-formaldehyde treatments on thermal conductivity and diffusivity of ramie fibers in the range of low temperature. J Polym Sci Part B Polym Phys 43:2754–2766
Kozloswki R, Rawluk M, Barriga-Bedoya J (2005) Ramie. In: Bast and other plant fibres. Woodhead, Cambridge, UK, p 211
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Munawar, S.S., Umemura, K. & Kawai, S. Characterization of the morphological, physical, and mechanical properties of seven nonwood plant fiber bundles. J Wood Sci 53, 108–113 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-006-0836-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-006-0836-x