• Advanced Composite Materials
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.197-208
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• 2009

Changes occurring in jute and coir fiber composites with 2-8% concentration of a NaOH treatment for 24 h were investigated, respectively, for void content, microscopy images, mechanical properties and water absorption. The jute and coir fibers were vacuum dried before molding composite specimens. Mechanical properties indicated good adhesion between natural fibers and PP. Jute fibers, when alkali-treated with 2% concentration for 24 h, showed best improvement in tensile strength by 40% and modulus by 9%, respectively, while coir fibers, when alkali-treated with 6% concentration for 24 h, showed best improvement in tensile strengths by 62% and modulus by 17%, respectively. With 2% concentration of alkali-treatments, the elongation of jute and coir composites reached 8% and 13.5%, respectively. Moisture absorption for jute and coir composites are 50% and 60% lower than untreated fiber composites, respectively.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.1095-1113
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• 2015

Jute rope is one of the most popular materials used for composites in various industries and in civil engineering. This experimental study investigated two types of jute rope with different diameters for jute rope composite plates to determine the best combination of jute rope and carbon fiber in terms of ratio and physical and mechanical properties. Eight combinations of carbon fiber and jute rope with different percentages of carbon fiber were analyzed. Tensile tests for the jute rope composite plate and hybrid jute rope composite were conducted, and the mechanical and physical properties of the specimens were compared. Thereafter, the ideal combinations of jute rope with an optimum percentage of carbon fiber were identified and recommended. These particular combinations had tensile strengths that were 2.23 times and 1.76 times higher than other varieties in each type.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.111-115
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• 2005

Recently, natural fibers draw much interests in composite industry due to low cost, light weight, and environment-friendly characteristics compared with glass fibers. In this study, mechanical properties were evaluated for two extreme cases of jute fiber orientations, i.e. the unidirectional yarn composites and the felt fabric composites. Samples of jute fiber composites were fabricated by RTM process using epoxy resin, and tensile, compression, and shear tests were conducted. As can be expected, unidirectional fiber specimens in longitudinal direction showed the highest strength and modulus. Compared with glass/epoxy composites of the similar fabric architecture and fiber volume fraction, the tensile strength and modulus of jute felt/epoxy composites reached only 40% and 50% levels. However, the specific tensile strength and modulus increased to 80% and 90% of the glass/epoxy composites. The main reason for the poor mechanical properties of jute composites is associated with the weak interfacial bonding between fiber and matrix. The effect of surface treatment of jute fibers on the interfacial bonding will be examined in the future work.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.28-37
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• 2019

Due to their flexible tailoring qualities, composites have become fascinating materials for structural engineers. While the research area of fiber-reinforced composite materials was previously limited to synthetic materials, natural fibers have recently become the primary research focus as the best alternative to artificial fibers. The natural fibers are eco-friendly and relatively cheaper than synthetic fibers. The main concern of current research into natural fiber-reinforced composites is the prediction and enhancement of the effective material properties. In the present work, finite element analysis is used with a numerical homogenization approach to determine the effective material properties of jute fiber-reinforced epoxy composites with various volume fractions of fiber. The finite element analysis results for the jute fiber-reinforced epoxy composite are then compared with several well-known analytical models.

• Composites Research
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.96-102
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• 2014

In this study, we fabricated jute fiber reinforced polylactic acid (PLA) composite in the form of sandwich panel structure which includes core foam of chopped jute fiber reinforced PLA and outer skin layer of continuous glass fiber reinforced PLA. Flexural properties of the composite were assessed for different jute fiber weight fractions. Density of the core foam ranged from 0.31 to 0.67 $g/cm^3$ and void content fraction 0.51 to 0.71. The maximum flexural strength was 92.7 MPa at 12.5 wt.% of jute fiber content, and the maximum flexural modulus was 7.58 GPa at 30.0 wt.%. Cost analysis was also conducted. The cost to enhance the flexural strength of the applied structure was estimated to be $0.010USD/m^3/MPa$ for 12.5 wt.% fiber content.

• Advanced Composite Materials
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.385-394
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• 2007

In this study, the effect of molding condition on the tensile properties for plain woven hemp fiber reinforced green composite was examined. The tensile properties of the composite were compared with those of the plain woven jute fiber composite fabricated by the same process. Emulsion type biodegradable resin or polypropylene sheet was used as matrix. The composites were processed by the compression molding where the molding temperature and its heating time were changed from 160 to $190^{\circ}C$ and from 15 to 25 min, respectively. The following results were obtained from the experiment. The tensile property of hemp fiber reinforced polypropylene is improved in comparison with polypropylene bulk. The strength of composite is about 2.6 times that of the resin bulk specimen. Hemp fiber is more effective than jute fiber as reinforcement for green composite from the viewpoint of strength. The molding temperature and time are suitable below $180^{\circ}C$ and 20 min for hemp fiber reinforced green composite. Hemp fiber green composite has a tendency to decrease its tensile strength when fiber content is over 50 wt%.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.9-15
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• 2007

The interfacial evaluation of surface modified Jute fiber/polypropylene (PP) composites before and after hydration was investigated using micromechanical test and dynamic contact angle measurement. The IFSS of alkaline and silane-treated Jute fiber/PP composites increased, whereas after hydration, the IFSS of the untreated, alkaline- and silane-treated Jute fibers/PP composites decreased due to swelled fibrils by water infiltration. The interfacial adhesion of silane treated fiber/PP composites was higher than alkaline-treated or the untreated cases. The surface energies of Jute fiber treated under various conditions were obtained using dynamic contact angle measurement. Especially after hydration, the thermodynamic work of adhesion was calculated by considering water interlayer, which indicated the stability of IFSS between silane treated Jute fiber and PP matrix showing better than others.

• Composites Research
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.23-31
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• 2007

In order to improve the mechanical properties of jute fiber/polypropylene(PP) composites, the property change with the addition of a coupling agent, maleic anhydride polypropylene(MAPP) was examined experimentally. The maleated coupler acts as an intermediate to chemically connect the polar nature of the fiber and non-polar nature of the polyolefin polymer resin. Furthermore, the decrease in viscosity of the resin which results from the melting point reduction by the MAPP, leads to an increase of contact area with the fiber interface. We discussed the improvement of the PP composite blend of the maleated coupler with the 80mm jute long fiber mat in conjunction with the change of physical parameters in the thermoplastic resin. We confirmed the extent of contribution to the mechanical physical enhancement by using the following parameters: melting flow index(MI) and viscosity, contact angle, thickness of the composite, interfacial shear strength and morphology observation etc. Especially it was observed that the MI and viscosity, MAPP mixture had a very strong relationship with the tensile and flexural strength and modulus, and interfacial shear strength(IFSS).

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.116-120
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• 2005

In this study, composites with polypropylene(PP) and Jute fiber were prepared by compression molding technique. Generally, hydrophilic jute fibers do not adhere well to PP, which is hydrophobic. Maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene(MAPP) had been widely used as a coupling agent to improve the bonding between ligno-cellulosic fibers and PP. The coupling agent improved the tensile and flexural properties when the mechanical properties were tested by using a UTM. The mechanical properties of natural fiber composites(NFCs) by modified thermoplastics were higher than those of NFCs by unmodified thermoplastics. Fracture surfaces of the composites and the fiber orientations were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The mechanical performance of NFCs by modified thermoplastics appeared to be improved by the enhanced interface adhesion between the fiber and the matrix.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.310-317
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• 2012

A jute fiber surface was modified with argon gas in a cylinder type RF plasma generator to enhance the interfacial bond strength and to optimize the plasma treatment condition. The plasma power, gas pressure, and treat time were varied to figure out any effect of those parameters on the morphology and mechanical strength of jute fibers, and the interfacial bond strength for a model composite with polypropylene resin. As the severity of plasma treatment was increased, the surface of jute fibers became rougher. Gas pressure was less effective in roughening of the surface compared with those of treat time and plasma power. Approximately 25% drop in tensile strength of jute fibers was observed for the parameters of treat time and plasma power, while little deterioration was found for gas pressure, with increasing the severity. Based on the interfacial shear strength (IFSS), the optimum plasma treatment condition was determined to be treat time of 30 s, plasma power of 40 W, and gas pressure of 30 mTorr.