3 - Physical and mechanical properties of natural fibers

Abstract

With the increase of crude oil prices, environmental concerns and growing global waste problems drive the interest on sustainable and eco-friendly products, including natural fibers, as an alternative to materials derived from petroleum or nonrenewable sources. Natural fiber belongs to the earliest known cultivated plants, which have intrinsic properties: low weight, cost, high specific strength, and specific stiffness. These properties have made them particularly attractive to many and varied industrial uses. The factors that should be considered in using natural fibers are safety, mechanical strength, and stiffness improvement of the composites, decreasing the density and environmental issues. This chapter intends to describe the physical and mechanical properties of natural origin fiber fabrics. Also, this chapter is going to study the reinforcing capabilities of natural fiber in different composites. Here, some challenges due to poor compatibility between the fibers and the matrix from a bonding strength point of view will be discussed.