Mechanical Characterization of Bamboo Fiber-Reinforced Green Composites

Abstract

This paper deals with the mechanical behavior of bamboo fiber-reinforced biodegradable composites (green composites). A starch-based, dispersion type biodegradable resin was used as matrix polymer, and this matrix was reinforced by long bamboo fibers which were extracted by a steam-explosion method. The experimental results showed that the developed green composites possessed the flexural and tensile strength of 263 MPa and 270 MPa, respectively. The mechanical properties of the green composites were evaluated as a function of fiber content. It is found that the observed tensile strength was slightly lower than that of estimated values from the rule of the mixture. This discrepancy might be related to the misorientation of the bamboo fiber in the composites and to that the final fracture of composites is also governed by the presence of weak bamboo fiber.