The Impact Toughness and Hardness of Treated and Untreated Sisal Fibre‐Epoxy Resin Composites

Abstract

e effect of the combined chemical treatment of sisal fibres through the subsequent processes of mercerisation (alkali treatment), then silane treatment and eventually acid hydrolysis, on sisal fibre was investigated. e effect of the treated fibres on the impact toughness and hardness of their composites with epoxy resin was also studied. Scanning electron microscopy of the surfaces of the treated and untreated fibres showed that the chemical treatment processes enhanced the removal of surface impurities and therefore increased the roughness of the surfaces of the fibres. is avails an increased surface area for interlocking with matrix and is, therefore, expected to enhance adhesion of the two. e treated fibre reinforced composites were observed to have higher values of impact toughness and hardness than the untreated fibre reinforced composites. ese higher values were attributed to better interfacial bonding due to better mechanical interlocking between the treated fibres and epoxy resin arising from the increased roughness of the treated fibres.

Hemp fiber surface modification: Its effect on mechanical and tribological properties of hemp fiber reinforced epoxy composites

“…Enhanced wettability between chemically treated hemp fiber and epoxy resin is the possible reason for this improvement in microhardness properties of treated HFREC. [ 70 ] Comparing the tensile, impact, and microhardness properties of all the composites, the highest mechanical properties were obtained for PT HFREC followed by ST and UT HFREC.…”

Evaluation of the effect of reinforcement particle sizes on the impact and hardness properties of hardwood charcoal particulate-polyester resin composites

“…In order to determine the impact properties of the fabricated composites, Charpy impact tests were performed at room temperature using a Hounsfield balanced impact tester, which imposes a three-point impact similar to that created by the Charpy apparatus specified in ASTM D6110-10 [16]. Test specimens with a geometry of 75 Â 8 Â 3.5 mm in length, width, and thickness, respectively, were cut from the cast composites.…”

Natural fibre composites – an alternative to plastics in the automotive industry: A review

“…It is observed that the potassium permanganate and MAPP treatments increased the storage modulus and loss modulus of treated composites at all ranges of temperatures as compared to the untreated ones. The works of Webo et al 47 combine the mercerisation of sisal fibres with subsequent silanisation in a 5% solution of (3-glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane. Following sufficient neutralisation and washing, it was found that the resultant fibres were more resistant to impacts, and the improvement in mechanical behaviour was higher than that obtained by performing these treatments individually.…”

“…The untreated corn fibre sample showed the highest impact strength (7.00 kJ/m 2 ), whereas the sizing-treated samples possessed an impact strength of 6.00 kJ/m 2 . Webo et al 47 performed a Charpy test on treated and untreated samples of sisal fibre composites. At 50% weight fraction, the treated samples had an impact energy of about 13.00 J, which was marginally greater than the untreated sample's energy of 10.00 J. Venkatesh et al 77 evaluated the impact properties of sisal/bamboo hybrid composite.…”

“…Upon analysing the hardness of homogeneous and hybrid composites prepared by reinforcing epoxy with B, sisal and Roselle fibres, Chandramohan and Bharanichandar 29 found that at 767.00 Brinell Hardness Number (BHN), the Roselle specimen was the hardest of the lot. Webo et al 47 tested the hardness of sisal fibre-reinforced epoxy composites, intending to understand the effect that the 5% NaOH and silane treatment of the fibres has on the hardness of the composite. Using the Barber Colman Barcol Impressor, they found that the aforementioned treatments, as well as increasing the fibre content in the specimen, have a positive impact on the hardness of the composite.…”