PLY TENSILE PROPERTIES OF BANANA STEM AND BANANA BUNCH FIBRES REINFORCED NATURAL RUBBER COMPOSITE

IC Ezema; ARR Menon; SO Edelugo; AD Omah; IU Agbo

doi:10.4314/njt.311.102

PLY TENSILE PROPERTIES OF BANANA STEM AND BANANA BUNCH FIBRES REINFORCED NATURAL RUBBER COMPOSITE

Authors

IC Ezema Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
ARR Menon National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, (NIIST) CSIR Trivandrum, India
SO Edelugo Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nigeria Nsukka.
AD Omah Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
IU Agbo Department of Pure & Industrial Chemistry,University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4314/njt.311.102

Keywords:

lamina, natural fibre, banana fibre, natural rubber, tensile properties, fracture surface, angle ply

Abstract

Ply tensile properties of banana stem and banana bunch fibres reinforced natural rubber composite was studied. Banana stem and banana bunch stalk fibres were extracted, surface treated, uni-directionally matted and laminated with natural rubber latex. The result of the tensile loading in 0^o fibre direction of the composite lamina (single ply) of 1.2mm thickness indicated a better performance of the banana stem fibres (BSF) than the banana bunch fibres (BBF). Natural rubber composite lamina reinforced with BSF which were treated with a mixture of NaOH and Na₂SO₃ had a superior tensile strength of 4.0 MPa and Young’s modulus of 147.34MPa over the untreated BSF with tensile strength and Young’s Modulus of 3.7MPa and 84.30MPa respectively. Both the treated and untreated BSF and BBF fibres exhibited better mechanical properties than the unreinforced natural rubber. The composite lamina exhibited anisotropic characteristics, having different tensile properties of 3.7MPa, 0.6MPa and 1.0 MPa corresponding to 0⁰ , 45⁰ and 90⁰ loading directions with respect to the fibre direction. The micrographs of the composite surface after tensile test indicated a ductile failure of the material with appreciable plastic deformation.

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Issue

Vol. 31 No. 1 (2012)

Section

Research papers of General Interest

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How to Cite

PLY TENSILE PROPERTIES OF BANANA STEM AND BANANA BUNCH FIBRES REINFORCED NATURAL RUBBER COMPOSITE. (2012). Nigerian Journal of Technology, 31(1), 25-30. https://doi.org/10.4314/njt.311.102