• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.44-50
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• 2020

In this study, pre-treatment was performed on kapok, a hydrophobic fiber, to compare dyeability by hydrophilization. The pretreatment conditions of kapok fiber were used with different amounts of sodium oleate(NaO), a fatty acid-based anionic surfactant, and xanthan gum(XG) as a natural thickener. At this time, NaO and XG were separately or mixed treated with 0.01%, 0.1%, 1% aqueous solution at 80℃ for 30 min. Hydrophilicity through dyeing was confirmed using Sappan wood extract. Therefore, SEM observation was performed to investigate the surface change of kapok fiber according to the conditions. The surface color difference was also analyzed. Pretreated kapok fibers were made from nonwoven fabrics and the contact angles were measured to determine their hydrophilization. The surface of the fiber after pretreatment was found to be cracked when NaO and NaO were mixed with XG. The surface color was the highest in a^⁎ and K/S values after the simultaneous treatment of NaO and XG, followed by NaO pretreatment and XG pretreatment. The contact angle of kapok fiber made of nonwoven fabric was slightly lower at 300g/㎡ than the fabric weight of 150g/㎡. Such hydrophilized nonwoven kapok fiber are expected to be used in various fields.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.62-67
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• 2008

Biocomposite was fabricated with biodegradable polymer and natural fiber that has potential to be used as replacement for glass fiber reinforced polymer composite with the benefits of low cost, low density, acceptable specific strength, biodegradability, etc. Until now, mostly natural cellulosic fibers on land have been used as reinforcement for biocomposite. The present study focused on investigating the fabrication and the characterization of biocomposite reinforced with red algae fibers from the sea. The bleached red algae fiber (BRAF) showed very similar crystallinity to the wood cellulose. It has high stability against thermal degradation (maximum thermal decomposition temperature of 359.3$^{\circ}C$) and thermal expansion. Biocomposites reinforced with BRAF have been fabricated by a compression molding method and their mechanical and thermal properties have been studied. The storage modulus and the thermomechanical stability of PBS (polybuthylenesuccinate) matrix are markedly improved by reinforcing with the BRAF. These results indicate that red algae fiber can be used as an excellent reinforcement of biocomposites, which are sometimes called as "green-composites" or "eco-composites".

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.9-19
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• 2019

This paper describes an experimental investigation on hybrid fiber reinforced concrete (HYFRC) beams. And the main aim of this present paper is to examine the dynamic characteristics and damage evaluation of undamaged and damaged HYFRC beams under free-free constraints. In this experimental work, totally four RC beams were cast and analyzed in order to evaluate the dynamic behavior as well as static load behavior of HYFRCs. Hybrid fiber reinforced concrete beams have been cast by incorporating two different fibers such as steel and polypropylene (PP). Damage of HYFRC beams was obtained by cracking of concrete for one of the beams in each set under four-point bending tests with different percentage variation of damage levels as 50%, 70% and 90% of maximum ultimate load. And the main dynamic characteristics such as damping, fundamental natural frequencies, mode shapes and frequency response function at each and every damage level has been assessed by means of non-destructive technique (NDT) with hammer excitation. The fundamental natural frequency and damping values obtained through dynamic tests for HYFRC beams were compared with control (reference) RC beam at each level of damage which has been acquired through static tests. The static experimental test results emphasize that the HYFRC beam has attained higher ultimate load as compared with control reinforced concrete beam.

• Weed & Turfgrass Science
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.253-261
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• 2014

In this study, we investigated several chemical and physical characteristics of 4 weed seed fibers; Hemistepta lyrata (HEMLY), Imperata cylindrica var. koenigii (IMPCK), Metaplexis japonica (METJA) and Typha latifolia (TYPLA). In chemical composition, there were 74 (TYPLA)-88.5% (METJA) of holocellulose, 17 (IMPCK)-24% (METJA) of lignin, 0.22 (METJA)-4.2% (IMPCK) of ash, 2.2 (HEMLY)-7.8% (IMPCK) of hot water extractives and 0.4 (IMPCK)-6.3% (TYPLA) of solvent extractives. Alpha-cellulose proportion to holocellulose was similar among weed seed fibers as 45-48%. The crystallinity index (CI) of raw seed fibers was 53.2 (TYPLA)-65.9% (HEMLY). However, CI of the chemical treated fibers (EDA fibers) was a little increased and showed 61.1 (IMPCK)-71.8% (METJA). The maximum thermal decomposition temperature (MTDT) of the raw seed fibers were 312, 321.8, 331.5 and $341.6^{\circ}C$ in METJA, TYPLA, HEMLY and IMPCK, respectively. But the MTDT of the EDA fibers were 327, 327, 341.7 and $360.0^{\circ}C$ in HEMLY, TYPLA, METJA and IMPCK, respectively. Taken together, they showed a similar or better characteristics compared to the reported or commercial natural fiber resourses. Accordingly, they seem to be practically applicable as renewable resources for a new natural fibers.

• International Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.9-12
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• 2017

In this study, an investigation on mechanical properties of flax natural fiber composite is performed as a precedent study on the design of eco-friendly structure using flax natural fiber composite. The Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding-Light (VARTML) manufacturing method is adopted for manufacturing the flax fiber composite panel. The VARTML is a manufacturing process that the resin is injected into the dry layered-up fibers enclosed by a rigid mold tool under vacuum. In this work, the resin flow analysis of VARTM manufacturing method is performed. A series of flax composite panels are manufactured, and several kinds of specimens cut out from the panels are tested to obtain mechanical performance data. Based on this, structural design of chemical storage tank for agricultural vehicle was performed using flax/vinyl ester. After structural design and analysis, the resin flow analysis of VARTM manufacturing method was performed.

• International Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2014

In this study, an investigation on mechanical properties of flax natural fiber composite is performed as a precedent study on the design of eco-friendly structure using flax natural fiber composite. The Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding-Light (VARTML) manufacturing method is adopted for manufacturing the flax fiber composite panel. The VARTML is a manufacturing process that the resin is injected into the dry layered -up fibers enclosed by a rigid mold tool under vacuum. In this work, the resin flow analysis of VARTM manufacturing method is performed. A series of flax composite panels are manufactured, and several kinds of specimens cut out from the panels are tested to obtain mechanical performance data. Based on this, structural design of chemical storage tank for agricultural vehicle was performed using flax/vinyl ester. After structural design and analysis, the resin flow analysis of VARTM manufacturing method was performed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.184-195
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• 2013

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to provide information in reference to the health hazards of asbestos substitutes. Methods: This study was conducted by reviewing the literature on the types of asbestos substitutes, product development using alternative materials and the health effects associated with asbestos substitutes. Results: Synthetic or natural fibers such as synthetic vitreous fiber, polyamide, attapulgite, sepiolite and wollastonite are known as asbestos substitutes. According to the patents data of the United States and Europe since the 1970s, many asbestos-free products have been developed in a variety of industries. Health hazards of some asbestos substitutes including synthetic vitreous fibers have been evaluated by many experts, however, additional researches are required to be carried out in the future. Conclusions: Alternatives to asbestos are necessary to develop the asbestos-free products. Health hazards for only several asbestos substitutes have been assessed so far and occupational exposure limit has not been established for many asbestos substitutes yet. Therefore, even though workers are handling asbestos-free products, it is recommended to control the working environment well enough in order to minimize the exposure of workers to dusts or fibers caused during the working process.

• 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.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.7-15
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• 2014

Agar-based composite films were prepared with variety of food processing and agricultural processing waste materials in order to screen natural lingo-cellulosic resources for the value-added utilization of the under-utilized materials. The effect of these waste materials (10 wt% based on agar) on mechanical properties, moisture content (MC), water vapor permeability (WVP), water absorption behavior of biocomposite films were investigated. Biocomposite films prepared with various fibers resulted in significant increase or decrease in color and percent transmittance. The MC, WVP, and surface hydrophobicity of biocomposite films increased significantly by incorporation of fibers, while the water uptake ratio and solubility of the film decreased. SEM images of biocomposite film showed better adhesion between the fiber and agar polymer. Among the tested cellulosic waste materials, rice wine waste, onion and garlic fibers were promising for the value-added utilization as a reinforcing material for the preparation of biocomposite food packaging films.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.669-679
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• 2018

In this paper the behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column connections under cyclic loading was analyzed. The specimens, manufactured in a reduced-scale were made of (a) recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) by replacing 30% of natural coarse aggregate (NCA) with recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) and (b) RAC incorporating Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber i.e., PET fiber-reinforced concrete (PFRC) at the joint region. PET fiber (aspect ratio=25) of 0.5% by weight of concrete used in the PFRC mix was obtained by hand cutting of post-consumer PET bottles. A reference specimen was also prepared using 100% of NCA and subjected to similar loading sequence. Comparing the results the structural behavior under cyclic loading of RAC specimens are quite similar to the reference specimens. Damage tolerance, load resisting capacity, stiffness degradation, ductility, and energy dissipation of the RAC specimens enhanced due to addition of PET fibers at the joint region. PFRC specimens also presented a lower damage indices and higher principal tensile stresses as compared to the RAC specimens. The results obtained gave experimental evidence on the feasibility of RAC for structural use. Using PET fibers as a discrete reinforcement is recommended for improving the seismic performance of RAC specimens.