Tensile properties of ramie fibre: Effect of harvesting day and extraction method

Abstract

Ramie fibre is a bast fibre that has a wide range of applications. There is a dearth of information regarding the effect of harvesting day and extraction method on the tensile properties of ramie fibre based on prior research. The purpose of this study is to characterise the tensile properties of ramie fibre harvested on 50, 60, and 70 harvesting days, and extracted using three distinct methods. Water retting manual decortication, water retting automatic decortication, and automatic decortication without retting are among the extraction methods. By increasing harvesting days from 50 to 70, the specific density of ramie fibre extracted using the water retting manual decortication, water retting automatic decortication, and automatic decortication without water retting methods increased by 1.1%, 0.7%, and 1.5%, respectively. Tensile strength, modulus and strain reduced with increasing harvesting age, by 25%, 18%, and 25%, respectively. In terms of extraction methods, ramie fibre extracted via automatic decortication has the highest specific density of 1.4638 g/cm3, while ramie fibre extracted through water retting manual decortication has the highest tensile strength and modulus of 1150.06 MPa and 66.49GPa, respectively. Aside from that, when maturity increased, the specific tensile modulus, specific tensile strength, and modulus of resilience dropped. The maximum specific tensile modulus and specific tensile strength are 46194.27 Pa.m3/g and 869.09 Pa.m3/g, respectively, for ramie fibre extracted on 50 days. In conclusion, the ramie fibre harvested on 50 days and extracted via water retting manual decortication method produced the finest quality ramie fibre.