Jute Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Research Articles

A comparative study on milling-induced surface roughness during milling of jute–epoxy and carbon–epoxy composites and optimization for better surface finish through Taguchi and RSM techniques

During the present experimentation, milling machining was performed on two different composites, namely carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composite and jute fiber-reinforced polymer composite, using a computer numerical control vertical machining center. The selected machining parameters were spindle speed (S), feed rate (FR), depth of cut (DOC), and flute number or cutting edge number (FN). The output parameter is the machined surface roughness (Ra). Analysis of variance was used to predict the percentage influence of each parameter on machining quality. The parameter feed rate exhibited a higher influence on the machined surface roughness, followed by spindle speed, flute number, and depth of cut in sequence. Similarly, while milling the carbon fiber composite, the feed rate had the highest influence, followed by the parameter flute number. As for the surface roughness, the feed rate had a greater effect, followed by the spindle speed. Under the same machining conditions, it was observed that the sequence of parameters influencing the jute composite and carbon composite changed in the case of cutting force generation, but the sequence of parameters was the same for both cases in terms of roughness. The outcome of the work confirmed that to achieve a smaller value of roughness in the milling of jute–epoxy composite, the optimum combination should be S = 3000 rpm, FR = 800 mm/min, DOC = 0.25 mm, and FN = 6. Similarly, to achieve the minimum surface roughness value in the milling of carbon–epoxy composite, the optimum combination of parameters should be S = 600 rpm, FR = 100 mm/min, DOC = 0.25, and FN = 6. The average roughness values obtained during the milling of jute–epoxy composite and carbon–epoxy composites are 6.685 and 3.08 μm, respectively. In this present work, it is proved that the optimum combination of parameters to get the minimum surface roughness and the amount of surface roughness produced during milling are highly influenced by the type of reinforced material. The graphs are prepared for the entire range of input parameters to identify the intermediate Ra value at any input value without the use of software.

Study on Machining Quality in Abrasive Water Jet Machining of Jute-Polymer Composite and Optimization of Process Parameters through Grey Relational Analysis

Abrasive Water Jet Machining (AWJM) is a popular machining method used to machine polymer matrix composites that are sensitive to temperature. This method is non-thermal, and each input parameter has a significant effect on output parameters, such as material removal rate, kerf width, surface roughness, and the potential for delamination. To ensure high-quality machining, it is crucial to set these input parameters at their optimal level. This paper proposes a simple approach to predict the optimum process parameters of water jet machining operations on jute fiber-reinforced polymer composite (JFRPC). The process parameters considered are standoff distance (SOD), traverse speed (TS), and abrasive material flow rate (MFR). Conversely, surface roughness (Ra) and delamination (Da) are the output parameters. Process parameters are set using Taguchi’s L27 array, with consideration given to three levels of each input parameter. The best value for process parameters is found using grey relational analysis (GRA), and an ANOVA on GRA illustrates the impact of each input variable. After a confirmation test, it was found that the suggested parameters guarantee the best possible results.

Elastic Properties of Jute Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites with Different Hierarchical Structures.

A two-stage micromechanics technique is used to predict the elastic modulus, as well as the major and minor Poisson’s ratio of unidirectional natural fiber (NF) reinforced composites. The actual NF microstructure consists of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, lumen, etc., and these constituents and their contributions are neglected in classical models while quantifying their mechanical properties. The present paper addresses the effect of the real microstructure of the natural jute fiber (JF) by applying a micromechanics approach with the Finite Element Method. Six different hierarchically micro-structured JFs are considered to quantify the JF elastic properties in the first level of homogenization. Later, the JF reinforced polypropylene matrix properties are investigated in the second stage by adopting a homogenization approach. Taking into account the different hierarchical structures (HS), the fiber direction modulus (E1), transverse modulus (E2 and E3), in-plane and out-of-plane shear modulus (G12 and G23), and major (ν12, ν13) and minor (ν23, ν21) Poisson’s ratios are estimated for JF and JF reinforced polypropylene composites. The predicted elastic modulus from micromechanics models is validated against the analytical results and experimental predictions. From the present work, it is observed that the HS of NF needs to be considered while addressing the elastic properties of the NF-reinforced composite for their effective design, particularly at a higher volume fraction of NF.

Additive manufacturing of jute fiber reinforced polymer composites: A concise review of material forms and methods

AbstractAdditive manufacturing is accelerating in hypersonic speed, which touched upon almost all the nook and corners of the manufacturing sector. The present stage wherein a 3D printer is capable of printing queer hybrid materials was not imagined through conventional manufacturing albeit it is meager existence in a few instances. Its expendable arms stretch to the maximum level that is even clearly addressed in Industry 4.0 too, by making at least a printer in a company for printing specific customized materials. The dream of printing composite material was been a long‐term goal for researchers worldwide. This article primarily focuses on this niche area of printing natural fiber composite materials that too specifically jute fiber‐reinforced composites. Very few pieces of literature are available on additive manufacturing of specific natural fibers. As the technique for printing natural fiber‐reinforced composites is still under evolution, this study will be more interesting as it consolidates the facts and figures involved in 3D of jute fiber reinforced composites alone. Different forms of jute fibers used by the researchers include weaved jute, jute as continuous fiber, filament along with jute, jute fiber as reinforcement, jute used as rope as well as jute fiber as cement matrix and all these forms have been addressed in this review.

Review on the Development of Jute Polyethylene Nanocomposites as a Function of Fiber Chemical Treatments

: The research on jute fiber reinforced polymer composites is an emergent concern with the development of new materials due to their significant properties like economical, partially biodegradable, and environment friendly. It is wondered that the hydrophilic nature of jute fiber negatively affects the interfacial interaction with hydrophobic polymeric materials in the composite, which then affects the resultant mechanical, microstructural and physico-chemical absorption properties. In order to overcome this fact, researchers have carried out some techniques for fiber surface chemical treatments. On the other hand, due to the low processing costs and design flexibility, thermoplastics deal many benefits over thermoset polymers, and polyethylene shows excellent processing behaviors such as low density, low cost, considerable flex life, outstanding surface hardness, scratch resistance and good electrical insulator. Besides the traditional thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers, montmorillonite nanoclay is also receiving attention to manufacturing fiber polymer nanocomposites for industrial and household applications as well. This review is considered to highlight the progress of jute fiber reinforced polymer nanocomposites. The study also focuses on the several features of jute polymer composites and nanocomposites as a function of fiber chemical treatments.

Effect of stacking sequence of glass and jute fiber reinforced polymer composites on their low velocity impact properties

This paper investigated the effect of stacking sequence on the low velocity impact behavior of glass and jute fiber reinforced hybrid composites. The hand layup method is used to fabricate the composites with various stacking sequences. The low velocity impact analysis was carried out at various impact energies, namely 5 J, 10 J and 15 J. Dye penetrant inspection (liquid penetrate inspection) was performed to analyses the damage area in the composites. Compression after impact (CAI) testing was conducted to study the compression strength of the composites after the impact. The study revealed that the jute fiber composites exhibited better results in terms of energy absorption, but the damage area of the composites was higher, compared to the other specimens fabricated. Meanwhile, hybrid composite S7 presented high energy absorption and the minimum damage area. To conclude, the hybrid composite S7 appeared to have the optimum formulation, showing better results in energy absorption, with lower damage and higher compression strength.

Flexural Behavior of Sandwich Composite Made of JFRP Honeycomb as Core and GFRP as Skin

The increasing demand of lightweight, strong and sustainable materials in aerospace, automobile and marine sectors is leading towards the development of new materials and structures. The sandwich composite is one of them which is well-known for their high strength to weight ratio and the fiber based sandwich structures with cellular core show comparatively good mechanical, acoustic, thermal and energy absorption properties than metallic cellular structure. The purpose of this work is to fabricate a sandwich structure with jute fiber reinforced polymer composite (JFRP) as core and glass fiber reinforced polymer composite (GFRP) as face sheet and to investigate bending properties of the fabricated structures for varying face sheet thicknesses. Skin and core honeycomb strips of the sandwich composites were manufactured using hand layup method and steel mold was used to obtain honeycomb shape. Flexural test results show that face sheet thickness has significant effect on the flexural behavior such as peak load, flexural strength and energy absorption. The failure mechanism during bending tests were also identified which would serve as a basis for future improvement of manufactured composites. The delamination at the interface between the core and the face sheet was the first catastrophic failure during bending. The presented sandwich structures are able to carry a significant amount of load even after failure.

Effect of micro‐sized marble dust on mechanical and thermo‐mechanical properties of needle‐punched nonwoven jute fiber reinforced polymer composites

AbstractThis work explores effectiveness of marble dust as a filler in needle‐punch nonwoven jute fiber reinforced polymer composites, prepared through vacuum‐assisted resin transfer molding process. Four different particulate filled composites are fabricated by varying the filler percentage from 0 to 24 wt% at an interval of 8 wt% marble dust under the controlled environment. The mechanical characterizations such as flexural strength, interlaminar shear strength, compressive strength, and impact strength enhanced with the increase in filler wt% in the composite. The improvement rate is observed from 14% to 33% compared to the unfilled composite. However, for tensile strength is concerned with the increase in filler content in the composites, the strength shows declined in order irrespective of filler content. This study also focuses on high‐temperature applications, for that dynamic mechanical analysis is performed in a three‐point bending mode with 1 Hz frequency as a function of temperature. Similarly, in case of fracture toughness of the proposed composites, the fracture toughness increases approximately from ≈22%, 27% and 59% respectively over unfilled composite with the change in filler percentage. Simultaneously, numerical simulation for fracture toughness is also performed and compared with experimental results. The deviation is found in the range from 0% to 4% with R2 value of 0.984. Based upon the outcome of present results, this research work can be subsequently extended for the low‐grade housing applications in one end and at the same time, optimal waste utilization can also be possible to reduce the environmental waste.

Effects of Heat Treatment on Mechanical Properties of Jute Fiber–Reinforced Polymer Composites for Concrete Confinement

Some natural fibers such as jute which have high tensile strength can be applied in natural fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP). Natural cellulose fibers are hydrophilic, resulting in lower reinforcement performance. Heat treatment can reduce water content in natural fibers and possibly improve the properties of natural FRP in terms of enhancing fiber and polymer composite action. This paper presents an improvement of jute fiber–reinforced polymer (JFRP) composites by heat treatment. The heat treatment conditions (i.e., temperature and duration) were considered. Coupons of heated JFRPs were tested to investigate their tensile properties. The application of JFRP on confinement was investigated by compression tests on concrete cylinders with JFRP wrapping. The experimental results indicated that a suitable heat treatment condition of 80°C for 24 h can significantly increase the tensile strength of JFRP coupons and the compressive strength of JFRP-confined concrete. The testing results of concrete confinement can be used to validate the existing predicting equations for confined compressive strength. In addition, a new equation was proposed for the effect of heat treatment of JFRP.

Influence of fiber length on mechanical properties and microstructural analysis of jute fiber reinforced polymer composites

In the current scenario, there is huge need of natural plant fiber reinforced polymer composites that own an enormous prospective to outfit the multipurpose prospects of creators. Jute is most extensively used natural plant fiber due to its dominating features resembling easy obtainability, less production cost, good insulating and satisfactory mechanical properties. The specific mechanical assets of fiber attained from natural jute plant and its compatibility with polymers are found excellent. An attempt in this research work was made to reconnoiter the importance of fiber length on mechanical deeds of jute plant fiber reinforced polyester composites. Fibers of various length (5 mm, 10 mm, 15 mm, 20 mm, 25 mm) are chopped and composite samples are prepared by compression molding. Mechanical assets of the fabricated composites are appraised by performing tensile, impact and flexural examinations based on the ASTM standards. The optimum properties were achieved for 5 mm fiber length as well as the failure nature of the fractured composites were inspected by means of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).

Mechanical Properties of Chemical Treated Jute Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites

Using PMMA Polymer reinforced by Natural Fiber (N.F.) materials have established much consideration because of several advantages for example low cost, non-abrasive, lightweight, non-toxic and the properties of bio-degradable. many kinds of research have been done in the recent usage of the natural reinforcing material to the preparation of different types of composites. Chemically treated jute fiber can enhance the surface of the fiber, decrease the absorption technique, and improve the roughness surface.in this research, pre-chemical treated in different lengths of jute- fibers in PMMA polymer-composites has been considered. Also, the effect of chemical treatment on mechanical properties of jute, jute reinforcing composite has been conferred. The results showed that the tensile strength T.S. of the treated in benzoylate solutions (4 mm) length fiber had good indicate to better interlocking between composite contents.Flexural-Strength F.S. of the-alkaline. solution treated (12 mm) length of fiber was obtained-better-results by increasing (16.5 %) compared with (2 mm) fiber-length. The fracture of the samples has discussed the relationship between composite adhesion. Impact Strength I.S. of the alkaline-treated (8,12 mm) fiber- a length that is due to to.better mechanical - interlocking between composite materials. The 2 mm fiber – length was not suitable-PMMA/ Jute composite in these tested for treated and untreated chemicals

A review of jute fiber reinforced polymer composites

Natural fibre reinforced composites find increased attention in construction, automotive, furniture and packaging applications. Jute (Corchorus Olitorius) is grown in tropical countries and is one of the strongest bast fibres with low cost. The properties of jute fibre along with surface modification to enhance their compatibility with the polymer matrices is presented. This work deals with survey of jute based polymer composites. The jute composites involving various thermoset, thermoplastics polymers, bio-based resins, jute hybrid composites and their mechanical properties are elucidated.

Mechanical behaviour of gel coated laminated jute-epoxy composites under varied acidic media and loads

In recent past natural fibre reinforced composite materials have gained an increasing attention in marine and sea water applications. Natural fibre reinforced composites are biodegradable and possess admirable mechanical properties. The natural fiber reinforced composites are highly prone to moisture and chemical attacks. The present study focuses on the effect of gel coat on mechanical behavior of laminated natural fiber reinforced polymer composites. The experiments were carried out to evaluate chemical resistance and mechanical properties of jute fiber reinforced polymer composites exposed to acidic media under extreme conditions. Laminated composite specimens were prepared using epoxy as the matrix material and jute as reinforcement. The prepared specimens were coated with a layer of gel coat material and categorized as coated/uncoated type. The specimens were exposed to concentrated HCl prepared for normalities and then tested for moisture uptake, tensile and flexural properties. Comparison was made between coated and uncoated specimen to evaluate the performance of gel coat. The specimen preparation and the experimentations were carried out as per ASTM standards. The results revealed that the process of gel coating has prevented moisture uptake, improved sustainability towards chemical and mechanical properties.

Multiscale modeling of nano-SiO2 deposited on jute fibers via macroscopic evaluations and the interfacial interaction by molecular dynamics simulation

To improve the interfacial combination of jute fiber reinforced polymer composites, sol-gel method was used to deposit nano-SiO2 layer on the surface of jute fibers. The macroscopic evaluations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation were carried out to characterize the deposition effect of nano-SiO2 layer on jute fibers. In addition, the multiscale modeling of nano-SiO2 deposited on jute fibers was established. The results showed that the deposition effect could be affected by the morphologies of nano-SiO2 layer including gel, array and aggregated particles. Compared with nano-SiO2 gel and aggregated nano-SiO2 particles, nano-SiO2 array may fill up the surface flaws of jute fibers efficiently, which would eliminate the stress concentration and lotus leaf effect on the jute fibers. The surface energy and tensile strength of jute fibers coated with nano-SiO2 array were increased by 9.79% and 16.47%, respectively. Additionally, MD simulation confirmed that non-bonding and C–O–Si chemical bonding interactions guaranteed the interfacial combination between the jute fiber and nano-SiO2 layer. C–O–Si chemical bond could provide with the strong interfacial strength between the jute fiber and nano-SiO2 layer.

Multi-response optimization of hybrid filler composition for pultruded jute fiber reinforced polymer composite

Sustainability and ecological awareness draw the attention of researchers towards natural fiber polymer composites, and continuous efforts are being made to improve their properties by altering the material composition and processing method. In the present work, an investigation of the effect of the fillers loading on the tensile and flexural properties along with hardness and cross-sectional shrinkage of the pultruded jute fiber reinforced unsaturated polyester resin composites is presented. A setup was designed and developed indigenously for pultrusion of FRP composite to achieve the objective of the current work. The objective of the present work is to investigate the effect of different fillers on characteristics of pultruded jute fiber reinforced polymer (PJFRP) composite and to propose a composition of hybrid filler for optimization of characteristics. A new approach has been presented in this work to develop hybrid filler by mixing three different fillers — bagasse fiber, carbon black (CB) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) — to optimize the characteristics PJFRP composite. Various compositions of hybrid filler are prepared as per Taguchi L9 orthogonal array for experimentation and further Grey relation method is used for multi-response optimization. The hybrid filler content of any composition is kept fixed i.e. 15% of resin weight to prepare a blend of unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) matrix and hybrid filler in all experiments. It was found that the all performance characteristics under consideration other than tensile strength have been improved by about 15 to 47% when PJFRP composite with hybrid filler (optimum composition) is compared to PJFRP composite without filler. The tensile strength, flexural strength, hardness, and cross-sectional shrinkage were found 61.39 MPa, 155.48 MPa, 42.67 HRK, and 4.99% respectively by using an optimum composition of hybrid filler in PJFRP composite. The predicted grey relation grade and experimental grey relation grade shows good agreement.

Reviewing the Development of Natural Fiber Polymer Composite: A Case Study of Sisal and Jute

Natural fibers that are mainly from plants, animals and regenerated sources are degradable and environmentally friendly as they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, they are cost effective when compare to the synthetic fibers. These materials mainly from plant are used initially for domestics’ purposes. They have recently been introduced to some industries, such as automotive, aircraft, marine and buildings, arising from their excellent mechanical, physical and chemical properties. The common natural fibers used for Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites (NFRPC) are, cotton, sisal, coir, jute, hemp, flax, banana, bamboo etc. Several researches and publications on natural fibers and its composite show that despite the properties of these fibers, their applications were limited to non-structural applications either for interior or exterior applications just for their environmental and low-cost benefit with less concern for their strength capabilities. Sisal and jute are fibers from vegetable and bast plants that had been proved to have exhibited excellent tensile and flexural properties (bast composite) and best impact properties (vegetable composite), were also restricted to non-structural applications only. This paper reviewed the present status and future expectations of natural fiber reinforced composites in structural applications using sisal and jute fiber reinforced polymer composites as a case.

Experimental study on drilling of jute fiber reinforced polymer composites

The use of natural fiber composites is growing at a fast rate in terms of industrial applications due to their eco-friendly, recyclable, renewable nature, and low density/costs. Recently, jute fiber is being used as a reinforcement material in the development of natural fiber reinforced plastics for engineering applications. Drilling is an essential machining operation that is frequently performed for making of holes in composite structures to facilitate assembly of several components into a complex part. The literature reviews indicate that only a few of research articles investigated drilling of natural fiber reinforced composites. Hence, in the present research, drilling of woven jute fiber reinforced polymer composites has been examined. This study aimed at evaluation of cutting parameters and drill bit types effect on thrust force, delamination size, and surface roughness in the jute fiber reinforced polymer composites drilling using an experimental design based on full factorial technique. The percentage contribution of the cutting parameters and drill bit types were determined through the analysis of variance. The optimal setting of these parameters was found through observation. The experimental results indicated that the most significant effect was the drill bit type influencing both delamination factor and surface roughness.

A Study on Mechanical Properties of Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Woven Jute Fiber Composite Polymer

Practice of biodegradable composites increase the attraction due to its lightweight and adequate strength. These plant fiber reinforced composites have captured the attention in construction and automotive industries. Jute fiber is one of the most affordable natural fibers obtained from the genus corchorus plant. In the present article woven jute fiber reinforced polymer composites are analysed to achieve the optimum layers and orientation of fibers for their peak mechanical properties. This study deals with the analysis of symmetrical and asymmetrical woven jute fiber reinforced polymers composite. Different types of composite test coupons are prepared based on number of layers and orientation of fibers like 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75° & 90°. Polyester resin and Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide is used as a matrix and catalyst respectively. Tensile and flexural strength properties are studied as per respective ASTM norms. The woven jute fiber composites with different orientation exhibits better mechanical properties than randomly oriented fibers. Tensile and flexural tests are conducted and the results are tabulated. It was also found that as the number of layers and orientation angle increases the strength’s and modulus of composites are decreased.

Effect of Moisture Absorption on the Mechanical Properties of Ceramic Filled Jute/Epoxy Hybrid Composites

The present work emphasizes on the mechanical properties such as micro-hardness, flexural and impact strength of jute fiber and Al2O3 filler based polymer composites at dry and wet conditions. Composite samples reinforced with different wt.% of fibers and filler were prepared by hand lay-up technique. To improve the mechanical properties, jute fiber was hybridized with Al2O3 filler. The maximum flexural strength of 72.94 MPa and impact strength of 1.902 J is obtained for composites with 30 wt.% fiber content and 10 wt.% of filler content. The hardness of composite increases with increase in fiber and filler loading i.e 40 wt.% fiber content and 10 wt.% of filler content. The maximum hardness value is obtained 29.9 Hv. The effect of water absorption on mechanical properties of jute reinforced hybrid polymer composites is also investigated. To determine the influence of water absorption on the mechanical properties, specimens were immersed in distilled water for 10 days before testing. For reference purpose, dry specimens were tested. It is observed that the rate of water absorption depends on the fiber content as well as filler content. All the mechanical properties of composites are decreased after water absorption. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is used to characterise the microstructure and failure mechanisms of dry and wet jute fiber reinforced polymer composites.

Mechanical property evaluation of glass–jute fiber reinforced polymer composites

The natural fibers such as jute, coir, hemp, sisal etc. are randomly used as reinforcements for composite materials because of its various advantages such as low cost, low densities, low energy consumption over conventional fibers. In addition, they are renewable as well as biodegradable, and indeed wide varieties of fibers are locally available. In this study, glass–jute fiber reinforced polymer composite is fabricated, and the mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural and impact behavior are investigated. The materials selected for the studies were jute fiber and glass fiber as the reinforcement and epoxy resin as the matrix. The hand lay‐out technique was used to fabricate these composites. Fractured surface were comprehensively examined in scanning electron microscope (SEM) to determine the microscopic fracture mode. A numerical procedure based on the finite element method was then applied to evaluate the overall behavior of this composite using the experimentally applied load. Results showed that by incorporating the optimum amount of jute fibers, the overall strength of glass fiber reinforced composite can be increased and cost saving of more than 30% can be achieved. It can thus be inferred that jute fiber can be a very potential candidate in making of composites, especially for partial replacement of high‐cost glass fibers for low load bearing applications. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.