The Effect of Fabric Weave on the Tensile Strength of Woven Kenaf Reinforced Unsaturated Polyester Composite

Abstract

Abstract-Natural fibers have gained attention in composite making since it is sustainable, renewable and environmental friendly. However, there are some drawbacks such as low tensile strength, modulus and flexural strength compared to industrial synthetic fibers. Various techniques have been used to increase the mechanical properties of the reinforced material in order to compete with synthetic fibers. This study is to produce reinforced fabric made from kenaf fibers woven into four different weave patterns. The reason for the use of different weave patterns is to reduce the crimp percentage as it may increase the tensile strength of the fabric. The weave patterns are Twill 4/4, Satin 8/3 and Basket 4/4, while Plain 1/1 is used as a benchmark for its tensile strength. The dry fabrics structure with different weave pattern was optimized using a simulation of WiseTex software. The dry fabrics were infused with unsaturated polyester to produce composite panel using vacuum infusion process. The dry fabric and the composites were tested on tensile strength and compared with the Plain 1/1 weave pattern. The result shows the breaking strength of dry fabric increased when different weave pattern with low crimp percentage were used compared with Plain 1/1. Yet, in composite form there is reduction in tensile strength for Basket 4/4 due to changes in the fabric structure making some parts of the composite became weaker. The other weave patterns still retain the trend of increment in tensile strength compared with Plain 1/1 weave.

Characterization of thermoplastic natural fibre composites made from woven hybrid yarn prepregs with different weave pattern

“…It is obviously due to the presence of more aligned fibres in the axial direction, which enabled it to hold the flexural stress developed over the surface of the material. Moreover, the satin fabric composite had a less chance for stress concentration due to lower number of interlacing points [29,31]. composites followed the same trend as obtained in the flexural and tensile testing.…”

“…The jammed fabric structure has influence on the properties of the composites since in this area the resin penetration between the fibres is low. In the case of satin weave each adjacent floating yarn has a different interlacing point which makes it evenly distributed and the even yarns floating distribution with small gap makes it free for the resin to distribute evenly [29]. The highest strength values (88.06 ± 7.70 MPa) were registered for composites reinforced with hemp/PLA satin fabric, followed by hemp/PLA basket fabric and winded hemp/PLA yarn laminate.…”

Stress, strain and deformation of poly-lactic acid filament deposited onto polyethylene terephthalate woven fabric through 3D printing process

“…It was revealed that plain fabric had higher tensile strength than twill one. This trend, even unexpected due to the high crimp of plain leading to lower mechanical properties 58 was fully reported by researchers who investigated the influence of textile properties on the tensile strength of textile 57,59,60 . After 3D printing process, the non-conductive and conductive 3D-PPOT materials have significantly higher stress at rupture when printing in the cross direction, due to more resistant monofilament used as weft yarn and increasing the weft density leading to a closer packing of the structure.…”

The application of 2D woven kenaf reinforced unsaturated polyester composite in automotive interiors

“…However, it is different for Basket 4/4 as it decreases when it is transformed into a composite. This has already been explained in previous study as the structure of basket 4/4 changes after been process, which leads to a jammed structure and produces large empty spaces without any reinforcement [12]. The tensile modulus determines the stiffness of the composite and it is found that the strength of the woven preform is proportional to the stiffness of the composite.…”