Parametric analysis of mechanical properties of bagasse fiber-reinforced vinyl ester composites

Abstract

In the present communication an effective parametric analysis on the mechanical properties (tensile and flexural strength) of bagasse fiber-reinforced vinyl ester (BFRVE) composites were conducted, and then the fabrication process parameters were optimized by using Taguchi and analysis of variance techniques. Composites plates were fabricated by Taguchi’s L18 experimental design as the function of process parameters such as fiber length, fiber content, fiber diameter, sodium hydroxide concentration and sodium hydroxide treatment duration. The optimum process parameters to obtain the maximum strength values were identified using signal-to-noise ratio calculations. Then, the results were analyzed to know the percentage contribution of each fabrication process parameter on the tensile and the flexural strength using analysis of variance. A multivariable non-linear regression model was developed to predict the strength values and compared with experimental strength values. The developed models were validated by 10 additional experimental results using the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). The results reveal that the fiber content (40 wt%) is the most significant factor influencing the tensile and flexural strength. An acceptable level of mean absolute percentage errors (8.57% for tensile strength and 9.13% for flexural strength) was obtained in both cases. Finally, the results indicate that this model can be used efficiently for prediction of tensile and flexural strength of BFRVE composites without any further experiments.

Effect of fiber loading on the mechanical properties of bagasse fiber–reinforced polypropylene composites

“…It can be seen from the result obtained that Rockwell hardness value for the composites increased with increasing fiber loads. The findings also agreed as reported in Cao et al, 7 Gomes et al, 8 Arrakhiz et al, 9 Oladele, 10 Athijayamani et al, 11 and Sima˜o et al 12 The hardness increases when the resistance of the materials to the deformation increases. This happens when more filler is added; the composite becomes harder and the materials' hardness improves.…”

Study of the tensile and compression performance of composite materials based on rubber particles and alpha fibers

“…Figure 9 shows that the increase of fiber content inside the rubber matrix widely improves the elastic behavior of the Alfa–rubber composite. This has been proved also by different studies [19,24,25,28–30] when they tackled differently the tensile properties of Alfa fiber-polymers.…”

“…In contrast with Athijayamani et al. [28], an acceptable level of mean absolute percentage errors (8.57% for tensile strength and 9.13% for flexural strength) indicates that the multivariable nonlinear regression model can be used efficiently for prediction of tensile and flexural strength of bagasse fiber-reinforced vinyl ester (BFRVE) composites without any further experiments.…”

“…Indeed, some long and chemically modified Alfa fibers were used to manufacture Alfa-polyester, Alfa-Polypropylene, Alfa-Polyethylene, Alfa-Polyurethane or Alfa-Polymer composites [9,15,19–24]. Therefore, different morphological structures of Alfa fibers were chemically and mechanically modified to be widely used on polymer matrixes [2,12–14,18,22,25–29]. Alfa stems, Alfa ( Stipa tenacissima ), cyanoethylated Alfa fibers, and long Alfa fibers, extracted from the stem of the Alfa, were used to prepare composite materials [9,15,19,20,22,30].…”

A novel palm sheath and sugarcane bagasse fiber based hybrid composites for automotive applications: An experimental approach

“…Oladele [22] considered the influence of bagasse fiber reinforcement on the mechanical properties of polyester composites. Athijayamani et al [23] analyzed the mechanical properties of bagasse fiber‐reinforced vinyl ester composites. Perdana and Hadi [24] investigated the mechanical properties of composite material based on waste materials from bagasse, eggshell, and styrofoam.…”