Evaluating Tensile Properties of Successive Alkali Treated Continuous Pineapple Leaf Fiber Reinforced Polyester Composites

Among natural fibers, Pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) is a rich cellulosic fiber with relatively inexpensive and abundantly available. The composites were fabricated with short PALF as natural fiber reinforcement for polyester matrix. Interfacial bonding of constituents is primary need in all the composites used for load bearing applications and inappropriate bonding may lead to premature failure of the composite. Chemical treatments on natural fibers are considered to strengthen the interface between fibers and matrix. Among various treatments, alkali treatment is one of the famous treatments on natural fibers and is also called mercerization. In this research, the PALF is chemically treated with 10% sodium hydroxide and followed by bleaching with H2O2. The composite specimen were then fabricated with untreated and treated short PALF with various weight proportions up to 30% in the polyester matrix as per ASTM standard and the samples were tested for tensile properties. The results revealed that there is an improvement in tensile strength of composites with increase in the fiber weight fraction in both the cases with and without treatment of fibers. There is 37.71% increase in tensile strength of untreated fiber composite compared with plain polyester. It is also depicted that the composite with treated fiber at 30% fiber loading obtained maximum tensile strength of 88.7Mpa which is 22.68% higher than untreated fiber composite and 68.95% high compared to plain polyester matrix. There was an increase in % elongation of composite initially with increase in the untreated or treated fiber loading in the polyester matrix and then it is reduced with further addition of fibers. Also the increase is less in treated PALF reinforced composite. Moreover, both successive alkali treated and untreated PALF reinforced polyester composites have shown increasing trend in tensile modulus with increased fiber loading. The tensile modulus for untreated fiber composite with 30% fiber loading is 78% higher than that of plain polyester. The modulus is further increased with successive alkali treated fiber composite at 30% fiber loading by 38% compared to untreated fiber polyester composite. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of International Conference on Materials Manufacturing and Modelling (ICMMM - 2017).