Abstract
The objective of this research is to optimize the alkaline treatment variables, including sodium hydroxide (NaOH) concentration, soaking, and drying time, that influence the mechanical behavior of bamboo fiber-reinforced epoxy composites. In this study, a Box–Behnken design (BBD) of the response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to design an experiment to investigate the mercerization effect of bamboo fiber-reinforced epoxy composites. The evaluation of predicted tensile strength as a variable parameter of bamboo fiber (Bambusa vulgaris) reinforced epoxy composite structures was determined using analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the quadratic model. In this study, a total of 17 experiment runs were measured and a significant regression for the coefficient between the variables was obtained. Further, the triangular and square core structures made of treated and untreated bamboo fiber-reinforced epoxy composites were tested under compressive loading. It was found that the optimum mercerization condition lies at 5.81 wt.% of the NaOH, after a soaking time of 3.99 h and a drying time of 72 h. This optimum alkaline treatment once again had a great effect on the structures whereby all the treated composite cores with square and triangular structures impressively outperformed the untreated bamboo structures. The treated triangular core of bamboo reinforced composites gave an outstanding performance compared to the treated and untreated square core composite structures for compressive loading and specific energy absorbing capability.
Highlights
Natural fiber-reinforced composites have been utilized as reinforcements to replace glass and carbon fiber-reinforced composites for various applications, ranging from sports equipment to advanced aerospace structures, due to their unique characteristics, including biodegradability, high specific strength-to-weight ratio, good acoustic resistance, good sustainability, good abrasion resistance, and outstanding energy absorption [1,2,3]
Natural fiber-based composites are mainly limited to non-structural applications by the incompatible behavior between the natural fiber and the synthetic polymer matrix due to a hydrophobic interaction with the hydrophilic cellulose
Box–Behnken design (BBD) was used to develop an experimental design for the alkaline treatment conditions for bamboo fibers
Summary
Natural fiber-reinforced composites have been utilized as reinforcements to replace glass and carbon fiber-reinforced composites for various applications, ranging from sports equipment to advanced aerospace structures, due to their unique characteristics, including biodegradability, high specific strength-to-weight ratio, good acoustic resistance, good sustainability, good abrasion resistance, and outstanding energy absorption [1,2,3]. Enayati et al [4] successfully used an electrospinning technique to disperse a wheat straw cellulose nanofiber in polyvinyl alcohol. This matrix modification approach has proved that the Young’s modulus of the composite was significantly increased by over six times that of the neat polymer [5]. Natural fiber-based composites are mainly limited to non-structural applications by the incompatible behavior between the natural fiber and the synthetic polymer matrix due to a hydrophobic interaction with the hydrophilic cellulose. In order to combat this issue, the fiber surface of a natural fiber can be modified using chemical treatment. Alkalization, acetylation, benzoylation, bleaching, and silane treatment are frequently used for chemical surface modification of the natural fiber surface
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