Abstract
Natural fibre reinforced thermoplastic composites find a wide array of applications in the automobile, building and construction industries. These composites are mostly produced by injection moulding or extrusion through properly designed dies. During these production processes, the shear forces exerted by the screw or ram leads to the degradation of the natural fibres. A screwless extruder that minimises fibre degradation and employs a reliable and low technology process has already been developed. However, the fibre degradation caused by the screwless extruder has not been compared with that of the conventional extruders. So, this study is focused on the influence of extrusion processes on the degradation of natural fibres in thermoplastic composites. Sisal fibres of 10 mm length were extruded with polypropylene, to furnish extrudates with a fibre mass fraction of 25%, using conventional single screw and screwless extruders. Polypropylene in the extrudates was dissolved in Xylene in a Sohxlet process; the fibres that were extracted were analysed for length variations. While fibre degradation in the form of fibre length variation is similar in both cases, this can be minimised in screwless extrusion by extending the gap between the front face of the cone and the orifice plate.
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