23 International Plastics

INTERNATIONAL PLASTICS ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY VOL 1.
87-98 (1995)
HYBRID FIBRE REINFORCED POLYMER

COMPOSITES
G Kalaprasao and Sabu Thornas

Scnwl d Chem car Sctencer. Mahslme Gandh Unl8erstty
Pr~yadarsn8 t + , s P 0 ,Konayam-686 5W Herald, hO!a
ABSTRACT
Thfs paper pcovides an inslght into the mechanical propenies and failure behaviour of hybrid fibre
reinforcedpolymer composnes. Thereare indlcationstnatthereinforcementMtwoiypes of fibres
into a single matrix often leads to bener properties that would be expeaedfromtheconsideration
of the rule of mixtures The recent developments in hybrid fibre reinforced polymer composites
have been discussed These include the properties d synthnic fibre1 synthetic fibre, synthetic
fibrelglassfibre,naurallibrelglassllbre. Morespecificallytheeffectofincorporationotshongiass
flble in sisal reinlorced low density polyethylene (LOPE) composles has been presented. It was
found that addiiion of glass fibre considerably improves the tensile strength of sisal reinforced
polyeihyiene.1he effect of orientatton of the fibres an tensile nrength was also studied. it was
foundthalthe composites containing longltudlnally orienledlibres exhibil bener tensilspropenies
than those with randomly oriented znes
1. INTRODUCTION
The investigation of the novel propellies of hybrid composites has been of deep interest to the
researchers for many years a$ evidenced by excellent reports [l-31.The incorporation of two or more
fibres wittlin a single matrix, is known as hybridisation and the resulting material is referred to as
'hybrid' or 'hybrid composites'. Hybridisation offers a lucrative mode for fabricating producis with
reduced cost, high specflic modulus, strength. corrosion resistance and in many cases excellent
thermal stabiiity. Based on the-viay of fabrication, different types of hybrid composites can be
prepared. Short and Summerscales (41 reviewed the literature related to different types of hybrid
composites. The following are the different types of hybrid constructions (Figure 1).
(a) Mixed fibre tows
In this. two types of fibres are intimately mixed throughout the resin with no specific concentration of
either types of fibres.
(b) Mixed fibre ply
This consists ol discrete layers of a rntxture of the individual fibres.

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2. EXPERIMENTAL of ei,oxy resin Tlrey o h ~ e r . ~ r t,ig17erri Ilylrrid enecl ,W the case of iiltimatrly nltxcd hyllrld COIIII'(ISIIPT
coiltaining H P ~ P Elil~resand c a r l ~ a fibres !~ than sandwich tyDr (Figure 7) Potyutl~~lelle Ilhrr 15 . l lllgll
Luw tl?liSity pdyethylene (LDPE) granules obtnned from Mis Indian Petrochemical Corporat~r,r>Ltrl eior><,atiocl c ~ o i ( > ~ ~t ~l ~c i! ~C
i ~oAl ~ ~ O l8liic
II which \S a low elongatiotl co!~i(,onenl Tl~erefori.. 1111,y 1 , 4
Barodti lltlilia wpre used The chopped glass libre (6 mm) was supplied by Ceat Ltd. Hydr?mlw,l hdia griteif Illat 1hyhrid eRarl is oilsewed nofy 1Ifhere 15 an enhancenlel~tin llle first failure ar:llll ill lrivi
sisal Itbrl1 *'as 01,tamed lrom local soi8ices The niain physical and mechanical propertas ot il;Pse
rnnleria~are llcted in Table t(a8b) All other ctiemicals used in the work were of rfagerit grade alld
used v<itI,out funher purification
,Table
~
lil
l.+eit floh incle.

~ a b l a1. ~ h y r , c a and
~-
Denrlty
~
i
~
me~hancoalpropenler 0 6 low density po,yetnyrens ( ~ ~ ~ ~ h i d o t h~ eS n
~~~ -
glass l#breand rlsal f i l e
Tenrmle strength
~ ~~~ ~-.~-
Elongat~onat
~~ ..-.-p
M eA4001,
---
~ o d ~oll ~ aYicaf raffenng
~~ ~ - ~ -
Cryrlalline
~ ~ -
30
Sjngle fibre
/ !
grh ? ? h l ni igm.c~~ at break bleak pot", meting p o r t
EI~I~ICI~Y
"
i 09;s
. -~
iMPa1
~
(%l
..
m0
IMPai I Cl
~ ~~~
l CI
- - - ~ !
ill 9 140 85 104
1 F ~ b r ebundle
.- - ~ p~ - - p ~ ~ . ~ - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - ~ - ~ p
T a h l ~l i l l
.
ocnity Tensile rlienglh Young's modulus
~~
Eiongalion at
~ .~ ~~
Dilnleler
-~~ ~- I -<,/---*
tg'cm I 0%) (GPal break 1%) (,,lli,
~ . . pp~ ~ - ~ - - p ~-p-
Glri. 2 50
' 1 7-35 6572 3 5 25
Csal 111 040 7 9~20 5-14 10" 3 0
~ ~ ~ --p-. - ~ ~ .
.p-.p ~ ~ - ~~~
v
Clmpped sisal and glass fibres ot 6 mm length were used for making composites. Firstly. for the 0 20 G0 80 100
preparnl8otl 01 lhybra composite, the two fibres were intimately mixed with LDPE by a solullon mixing Volume '1. HP-PE
techoi<l\ledeveloped by our re~earchgroup [12.13] The fibres were mixed with a slurry of LDPE in
tduerli. Ilia1 has heen prewred by adding toluene to a melt of the polymer. The solvent lrorn thp mix
was rrrlnoved lby evaporation The mix was lhen enruded through a ram type hand operated ir,jcction l h y 5 , < d~ O r n p o ~ ~O1 unliealed
Fig 2 Hybrid e f l ~ c "E ~~n HP-PE. fleated HP DE. 7 sandivich lunfld~tedi\'sirr:.'ii"
~ t r e a l e d i,\ sntlmacety mixed (untreated), r inrlola!ely nwed 11rest~rll
fnilulding machine at a temperature of 125 2 3C. For the preparation of longitudinally oriented
elangatior>fibre r e i n f o r c ~ com~onent
f They could observe a first failure stralrl enhancemrl,l nl1iS : l
compozltes the extrudates having diameter 01 4 mm were cdlected and aligned In a leaky mould 1141.
the case of intimately mixed hybrid, whereas for sandwich hybrids rlo strain enhancenlel~l
They were then Compression moulded at a pressure of about 8 MPa and a1 125 2 3'C The conlposites detected Table 2 sllows rile terlsile test data 01 a series of composites lrom their experinlellt
so 0btaiof4 were removed alter coding the mould below 50C. Rectangular specimen having size l20
slbeels (120 .
26 6 5 7 S mm were cut lrom abave composites for further testing Randomly oriented composite
12 5 r 3mnr) were prepared by standard injection moulding of !he mix vsirly a rnrn type
l l a l l ~li~ l l ( i r t l ~rilotcldfng
il machine M~terlPl
~~- ~ ~ - . ~
M O O U ~ ~E , ~
~~~~
i e n r i ~ eSlrpngth
~ ~ ~~
F s u i e rtramn
-~
~ ~ helcec!
I
~ ~ r !
I
(GP-I IMPal 1'1)
.- ~ ~~ - ~~~ ~
~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ - ~ ~
T l i i i1wrl1nnical lasting of the hybrid composites were carried out on a Zwick 1,165 Llo<veisal Single l ~ b r eComporllr
ir:sl,r!q t,laclllnn at a cross head speed of S mmimin and a gauge length of 50 mm 4 standard UThl Crrbolr 1.F 1750 141
IellcIr lnst t,rt,cl;lmmr *.'S used to evaluate tlie ililimate tensile strength. HP PE tvhvesfedi 40 Q10 3 ro
Hi' PE llreafedl 1) 1070 3. M
Hybrid ComOoSlte
3. RESULTS AND OfSCUSSlOM
Sandwich iunfreale0i 01 ~ZBO 141 n
SandwtcO Itreafedl 92 ,300 143 1.1
( a ) Synlhetic libre'synfhelic fibre hybrid composites ,nlermtngled (unlieateril AR ? 360 1 53 R5
,U"
hlermingled Ifreildl 87 ,460 169
:~
rnr8 ' 8 ~ i c .>W *or* ?>aso w n r~pon6.,.1 rn tnc 18ed of s)r>ll8eloc~,,f#to?!c ,ur , 1 , re
d r ~ tc l ~~~.
.~~
r . ' i 1 t ..,?>rl r r o l ~ l ~ : o ~ .Peq9
t ~ s and Dc nuh1151 st.dato the enrcl 01 h,t,ra.rlt 7 1 1 11...11 Marom et a l ( t 6 ~
repone* on the ffexural behaviour of aramfd!carbon hybrid fibre reicllorced eW*y
, .~.. , fl.,r' t ..r'<>rlna!lr*,(X, yefhi snp n P PF a8)o coruon llnres 0x0 fne IOII!.~~ I .I
A ~ l.11 I .U. ..r ;. . resin compositns. They concluded that aramid l~t~relcarbon fibre sandwich hybrids (ACA) willi aramlil
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H$rid men of Shon SLrol/Glass Hybrid Composites 49
INTRODUCXION
INVESnCATlON the novel properties of hybrid composites has been of
Hybrid Effect in the Mechanical

T HE
to
OF
deep interest researchers for many years as evidenced excellent rewrts
hy
[l-61. The incorporation of two or more-fibers into a single matrix, leading b the
development of hybrid composites, offers a lucrative mode for fabricating prod-
Properties of Short SisalIGlass Hybrid ucts with reduced cost, high specific modulus, strength, corrosion resistance and
Fiber Reinforced Low Density in many cases emllent thermal stability It is generallv acceoted that the o r o o
enies of hybrid composites are contmlled by &tors suLh as nature of the &m;,
Polyethylene Composites nature, length and relative composition of the reinforcements, --fiber inter-
face, hybrid design, etc. Miwa and Horiba [7] investigated the &t of fiber
length on the tensile strength of epoxy resin reinforced with carbon and glass
G. KALAPRASAD AND SABU THOMAS* fibers. They observed an increase in tensile strength of these coinposites with in-
School of Chemical Sciences crease in the fiber length of carbon and glass fib& up to a certain level. Beyond
Mnhnha Gnndhi Universiry this level tensile strength remained unaltered. Peijs and De K& [S] studied the
Pn'yadnnini Hills EO. tensile and fatigue behavior of epoxy resin containing plyethylene and carbon
finayam-686 560 fibers. They concluded that the intimately mixed hybrid composites containing
Kemln, India chromic acid treated polyethylene fibers exhibit better tensile and fatigue proper-
ties than those containine untreated fibers. Mamm et al. 191 examined the hvbrid~,~ ~
C. PAWHRAN effects in carbonlcarbon and glasslcarbon hybrid combsites based on epoxy

Regional Research Laboratory resin matrix. They pointed out that cornposit& containing carbon and glass fiber
exhibit maximum hybrid effect than those having carbodcarbon fibers. The
' Ihim~~(lllthapumm-695019 reason has been attributed to the difference in fi;ber-matrix interface and the
Kemln, India
mechanical strewth of the fiben in the comwsite.
N. R. N E E W A NAND S. BAUUWSHNAN Research wurG on lignocellulosic fiber c o b s i t e s showed that their proper-
ties can effectivelv be utilized in hvbrid comwsim 110-121. Shah and Lakkad
Chemical Engineering Division [U] followed the mechanical propekes of ep& and b l y e s k r resins reinforced
Indim brrrifute of Technology by jute and glaqs fiber singly anJ in combinauon as a hybrid. They could observe
M&-WO 036 a sig~ficanrunprovement in the strength and modulus of glass reinforced com-
India p s b s when j& fibers were a d d i t i o d y incorporated &to the matrix. They
pointed out that the increase in the mechanical ~mpertiesmieht be due to the
A B S T R A ~ ~Hybrid
: composites of low density plyethylene (LDPE)reinforced with functioning of jute fibers as a filler. Clark and &sei [l01 repoU&d the improve-
intimately mixed short sisal and glass fiben were prepared by solution mixing technique. ment of various mechanical oro~eniesof iutelelass hvbrid laminate wi!h different
The mechanical properlies of these composites haw been investigated with reference 1" arrangement of plies in theala&ate. 6 e y sThowed.that the jute core laminates
the dfmof orientation aod composition of fiben in them. It has been observed that Vle
wmposites confaininglongimdiily oriented fiben exhibit better mechanical pmpetiies were the most cost effective from the tensile and flexural properties view point.
than those with randomly oriented ones. Also it is seen that the mechanical pmpenies in- According to than glass core laminates offer exceptionally low cost in terns of
creare with increase in the wlume fraction of glass fiben in the hybrid wmposites. The impact energy. b a et al. [l41 investigated the effect of three coupling agents,
e k t of chemical modification of sisal fiben on tie properties of 50:50 sisallglass fiber viz., silane, titanate, and toluene diisocymate on the mechanical ~ropeniesof
composites has also been studied. The hybrid effectwas calculated by the additive rule of jutelglass hybrid fiber reinforced plye&r composites. They cohc6ded that
hybrid mixtures wing the mechanical properlies of individual composites. A positive composites containing titanate treated jute fabric exhibit better mechanical p r o p
hybnd e M wds exhibited by the composites for all the mechanical pmpefiies except b r erties than those reinforced with silane or TDI modified jute fibers.
elongation at brral. In the present paper, the enhancement in the mechanical properties of LDPE
when reinforced with a synthetic fiber, i.e., glass as well as a lignocellulosic
fiber. i.e.. sisal has been examined. Since the basic ~rooertiesof the reinforce-
~ u U w ~ , ~ h o m ~ ~ W d b c . d d r r r u d ments, vu., glass and sisal differ widely, the hybrid && caused.Ly these rein-
Journal of REnu~o~cw
PLASTICS A N 0 COM~SITES,
%lbl-15-JMWV 1996 forcements in the same matrix is of considerable significance. Such an investiga-
48
an8-26 SWlOOlo
m16844~)6/01
Q 1996 Techmmc Publtshng CO.. h.
Table 1. Physlwl and mechanlwl pmprtles of low dendty polyethylene (LDPE-Indothem, 16MA 400).
glass flber and slsel flber.
TemIIe Vlcat Cymalllne
Men Flow Strength Elongation Modulus ol SoHenlng Msltlng
Index (gm1 Denslty at Break Bmak Elastlclty Polnt Polnt
10 mlnl iamlccl IMPal iHl (MP.) ('C) (.C)
Tmslle Young's Oongnlon

Denslty Strength Modulus at Break Dlanwter
(elcc) (GPO) (GPO) (H) rm
Hybrid Effen of Shon S i r o l / C b s Hybrid Composites 53
RESULIS AND DISCUSSION
Figure 1 shows the stress-strain behavior of pure LDPE, pure sisal, pure glass,
and longitudinally oriented hybrid comwsites of sisal and glass reinforced in * * 90110 (SIG)
LDPE. It can be &n from the figure thai pure LDPE exhibitsquite a large neck- -70130 (SIG)
ing behavior. Necking of LDPE cannot be x c n in the Firmre 1 due to the chance "3000 (SIG)
in-the strain percentage scale. In the case of pure sisal &d glass fiber, the stress 20 * GRP
increases proportional to s h a h and a sharp breaking is observed. No necking be-
bavior is observed in the case of sisal and glass fibre. When sisal fibre is incor-
porated in the LDPE, the necking decreases to a large extent and as the volume
fraction of glass fibre in the hybrid composites increases the necking again
decreases for composite containing glass alone (GRP). This can be explained by
the fact that the glass fiber shows more elasticity than sisal fiber which in turn
CP.
T1.ls CP.
l CP.
!
''I; l
0 2 1 6 8 10 12 14
STRAIN (% )
Figure 2. Stress-swain curves olmdamly wientedGRP, SRPand W i r h ~ ~ d m m p o s i t e s .
shows more elasticity than LDPE. It can also be seen in the figure that the yield
smss of the hybrid composite increases as the volume fractionif glass inc&ses.
Also there is a reduction in the percenragc strain of the composites with i n c m u
in the wlume fraction of glass. This is due to the fact that glass is highly brittle.
As the volume fraction of glass increases the yield strcss of the mmwsite wstem
increases but at the same L e the system b&mes more brittle. ~e increase in
the value of yield stress with wlume fraction of glass fiber is attributed to the
high modulus of glass fibem oriented perpendicular to the direction of crack
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 63 propagation. Figure 1 clearly shows that as the wlume fraction of glass fiber in-
STRAIN, %
creases, the area under the m e decreases. This indicates a reduction in the
overall ductility of the samples.
Flgum 1. *ss-shin curves of LDPE, sisa! fiter, glass iiter, hgihldinally orienfed GRP. The stress strain behavior of randomly oriented composites is depicted in
SRP end W i r hyMd mmposnes. Figure 2. It is o k e d that these composites exhibit lower tensile strength than
\
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Hybrid men ofShon Sisal/Clars Hybrid C o m p o s i I C S
the longitudinally oriented ones for all compositions. They also show necking be-
havior. Randomly oriented fiben act as barriers and prevent the distribution of
25
stresses throughout the matrix and this in turn causes higher concentration of
localised stresses. This explains the reduction in tensile pmperties of randomly
oriented comwsites. But the wrcentaee strain is hieher for randomlv oriented
ones com& to their ~ o n ~ i ~ d i&nterpam
nal (Figure 1) for all compositions.
The enhancement in the Dercentaee strain of randomlv oriented comwsites is at-
tributed to the d e c k . effecI2 randomly o r i e n d fibers on ma& shain. It LONGITUDINAL: -- RANDOM
may be noted that the fibers have considerably l m percentage strain compared
to the matrix and their alignment in the direction of the applied sh'ess effectively
reduces the percentage strain of the matrix. Hence composites containing longi-
tudinally oriented fibers exhibit lower percentage strain than the randomly
oriented ones.
Firmre 3 show the s t r e s s - s h behavior of 5 0 5 0 sisallelass hvbrid comws-
ites containing alkali mated and untreated sisal fibers (both?ongi&dinal and &ran-
dom). The firmre clearlv indicates that the tensile svenmh of comwsites wntain-
ing heated :sal fiber is higher than those with un&ted fiberf. The effect is
pronounced only in the case of samples containing longitudinally oriented fiber
composites. AlkaIi mahllent improves the m u d ~ e s of s the sisal fiber surface as
can be seen hum Figure 4. ThiIhib enhances the-mechanical interlocking between
fiber and mauix (LDPE). The enhancement in tensile strenmh of veared sisal
hybrid composites may be ateibuted to the efficient stress &sfer between the
fiber and the matrix dueOI impmved adhesion between mated fibers and matrix.
Figure 3 also shavs a decrease in percentage strain of alkali eeated sisal fiber
hybrid composites compared to untreated ones for longitudinal orientation. The
decrease in strain clearly indicates the enhanced compatibility between treated
sisal fiber and polyethylene matrix.
Figures 5.6.7.8 and 9 show the miation in tensile strenmh. Youne's modulus.
elon&tion at break, tear strength and hardness respectivel~ofhybridcomposit&
- . .
as a function of wlume fraction of elass fibers. The firmres reveal that all onoer-
ties except elongation at break inc& with increase in volume fraction of glass
fibers. Addition of glass in the sisal-LDPE system helps to attain a uniform dis-
persion of the sisal fiber and prevent fiber to fiber contact in the matrix.This can
be understood hum the opti& photographs shown in Figure 10. Figure IC(a) and
IO(b) mresent GRP and SRP rcs~ecovelv.Flrmre 10(c) indicates the decreased
fibe; to fiber contact on addition of glass he;. As ie'volume fraction of glass STRAIN ( % )
increases, agglomeration of glass fiber takes place [(Figure 10(d)]. This in fact
accounts for the decrease in positive hybrid &ed at high glass fibre loading which Fbun 3. S w s s ~ r m i ncurves of50:50 sidglass hybrid corn- Cmfalning L I
is discussed in me coming section. The increase in tensile strength of hybrid and elkall beefed W fibem (k+X~iiUdininllland m m ) .
composites (Figure 5) is due to the higher tensile strenmh of glass fiber than sisal
fiberand a& the digh degree of dispersion of the si& by h e additional incor-
oration of alass fibers. Fieure 5 also shows that in the case of tensile streneth of
b d o m l y Griented composite addition of glass fiber results then L no
remarkable impmvernent in tensile strength. 6 i s clearly highlights the fact that
if glass fibers an not oriented. Irybridsation makes no improvement in the tensile
sWngth of the composites. ~cadningelectron micmgrapl;s of the tensile fracture
(Wx u o l l e ~ w u 6 w )dtt9 10 uwlw
ewn,o~g 0 Ewws~uo3euscduol pugr(q (p) pus 'du9 )o uol13ey w n I M c 0 6 u u m l m W
- W U o 3 PU& (3) 'dC(S(91'dH3(#)l0 UCUler-SWloWlO SQds,&U3)~)ClldO'01 PIn6U
&1 G. KALAPRA~AO
ET AL. Hybrid Effen of Son Sisol/Glm Hybrid Composires
surfaces shown in Figure 11 reveal that tensile failure of untreated fiber wmpos-
ites is mainly due to fiber pull out. Variation in Young's modulus values of
longmtudinal and randomly oiiented composivs ulth volime frdctlon of glass IS
\een in the Fmeurc 6 It IS ohxrved lhat increase in Youne's modulus of both the
directions (loigitudinal and random) is due to higher young's modulus of glass
fiber wmpared m sisal fiber. Figure 7 reveals the reduction in elongation at break
values of hybrid composites by the addition of glass fibers. It is interesting to see
that in both cases (lonaitudinal and random). eloneation at break values were
decreased by the addition of glass fibers. ~ i & r e7 Zso shows that elongation at
bnxk values of loneitudinallvoriented comwsite arc lower than that of randomlv
oriented composites.
Figure 8 shows the tear strength of longitudinally aligned hybrid composites.
The property increases with increase in volume fraction of glass fibers. The tear
strength of LDPE is very low compared to h) brld wmposmlei At the llme of tear-
mng fiben in the composite prevent the gmwth of crack front because the fikn
ari aligned to-the direction of crack growth. This in fact increases
the tear strength of the composite. Tear strength of glass fiber composites is
higher than that of sisal filled composites. Load-displacement curves (tear
curves) of the sample arc given in Figure 12. Polyethylene tears at the minimum
force with maximum displacement. GRP tears at the highest force and at the
smallest displacement. This indicates that glass reinforced composites have high
resistance to tearing. It is seen that the tearing force decreases and displacement
increases with the decrease in the amount of glass fiben.
Figure 9 shows the hardness values of hybrid composites with increase in
DISPLACEMENT, mm
Flgura 12. Load-displacement curves of LDPE, SRP, GRP, and their hybrid C o r n M s .
Fbum 11. SuvrnlfIg elecmm micwraph of hactum surface of hybrid composite contain-
ing unmated m.
Table 3. Varlatlon 01 tensNe strength wlth volume fractlon o f GRP In slsal/glass hvbrld comwslles.
Tmslle Stmngth of Tensile Stmngth of

Volume Fractlon Longltudlnslly Oriented Randomly Oriented
of F l k m Composltss (MPa)
Hybrld Composites (MPa)
Dealgnation Slsal Glass VS. v,. Experimantal Theomtlcal Expcrlmantal Theomtlcal
SRP 0.3 - 1 12.37 - 7.25 -

1 027 0.02 0.9 0.1 15.97 13.34 7.72 7.44
2 0.24 0.04 0.8 0.2 16.68 14.48 7.83 7.65
3 0 2 O J 0.7 0.3 16.92 15.54 7.97 7.85
4 0.18 0.08 0.6 0.4 17.6 16.59 8.11 8.06
5 025 0.10 0.5 0.5 17.76 17.65 8.26 8.26
6 009 z 4 0.3 0.7 -19.98 19.76 8.7 8.66
-- - %ix%i
7
GRP l:?,, 0.2 0.8
1 22.94
21 .X7 9
9.28
8.87
SRP-SIMI relnlorced pla~tlc;GRP-G18a reinforced plastic.

P
r:
r
0
Table 4. Varlatlon o f young'^ modulus wllh volume fractlon of GRP In slsal/glass hybrld COmposlteS. a
S
Young's ~ o d u l u sof Young's ~ o d u i u sof S.
Volume Fnctlon Longltudlnally Oriented Randomly Orlenled 6
Hybrld
of Flbsn Composltra (MPa) Composites (MPa) 8
Dealgnstlon Sisal Glass V, Vmr Experimental Theoretical Experimental Theomtlcal g
SRP 0.3 - 1 - 133.3 - 130 f:
1
2
3
4
0.27
0.24
0.21
0.18
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
160.8
171.4
187.5
192.3
141.97
150.64
159.31
167.78
147.3
152
160
175.23
144
'3151
1
158
!
3
2
5 0.15 010 0.5 0.5 196.6 176.65 189.6 165
6 0.09 0.14 0.3 0.7 200 193.99 190.3 179
7 0.06 0.16 0.2 0.8 210 202.66 194.6 186
GRP - 0.2 - 1 220 - 200
SRP-Sisal nlnforcsd plastic: G R P - 4 l a a reinforced plastlc.

' R o e = euelhqlehlod &!suep MOI 10 q18ue~1s >ss1
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Influence of Short Glass Fiber Addition
on the Mechanical Properties of Sisal
Reinforced Low Density
Polyethylene Composites
G. KALAPRASAD, JOSEPH AND SABUTHOMAS*
KURUYILLA
School of Clrcnrical Sciencrr
Mahnofta Gandhi Universiv
Pri?adarshri Hills PO.
Korrrrynm-686560
Kerala, India
ABSTRAm: Thls paper presents the evaluation of enhancement in the mechanical

pmpenies of sholr sisal fiber reinforced polyethylene composites by the incorporation of
shon glass fib r as an intimate mix with sisal, Intimately mixed shon glass-sisal hybrid
fiber reinforce3 polyethylene composites (GSRP)were prepared by solulion mixing tech-
ntque. The effects of fiber orientation and alkali treatment on sisal fiber in GSRP were
studied. Addition of relatively small volume fraction of glass (0.03) to the sisal reinforced
polyethylcne matrix (SRP) enhances the tensile strength of longirudinally oriented com-
posites by about 80%.Addition of the same volume fraction of glass to the alkali treated
!,(sal incorporated SRP enhances the tensile strength by more than 90%. The flexural
strength of lhc longitudinally oriented composites was also studied. The incorporation of
$lass fiber (V, = 0.03) to SRP enhances the flexural strength by more than 60%. The
effect of hvbridimlion on water absomtion tendencv ofthe sisal fiber was studied bv im-
KEY WORDS: hybrid. siral reinforced composites. glass reinforced composites.

tmcchanical prupenies.
INTRODUCTION
HE REINFORCEMENT OF two o r m o r e fibers into a single matrix leads to the
T development o f hybrid composites with a great diversity of material prop-
3<1urnal of COMPOSITE MATERIALS, @/. 31, NO. 511997 509

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auanIol2utppe q pa~edalduaaq seq leql auanloi u! z d a i JO ( J J ~ I " "!M P~Y!" palua!Jo qitw p33JUjU!aJ uaaq aneq'qs!q.n suals<s uo p?)&?JlUa2UO>alaM sa!pnls
aJaM slaqy a q .~[ ~ Z . O Zd] n o ~ Sqs'easal i n o i q padolanap s n b ! u q ~ a3u!x!u ~ aqi jo IWLU 1eq1 [ e a ~ ~al!soduo>
a~ p ! ~ q L q ~play
o aql U! [ZI-OI I suo!le8!lsa~u1
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'dxSf) pUE 4x3 ' d a S BU!~RLU J?J pasn ?JaM lulu 9 qDual 4 0 SJ3qy sSel8
asoql ueqi 'sa!l~ado~d anS!tej pue a[!susl Janaq l!q!qxa sJaqy auaLlqlaLlod paleaJ1
pull 1eSls paddoq3 .ila.\!lsadsal sal!soduos aual iqla.ilod pasJOJu!aJ Jaqy p!Jqdq p!se s ~ r u o ~ q8u!u!e1uos
s sa!sodiuos p!lq.iq pax!m L[a~e~u!lu!leql punoj , L a q ~
IES!SISSFI~ pue sal!sodtuos aual,<qlaL[od pamyu!al Jaqy ssel3 'aualLqlaLlod -1aqy u o q ~ e pue
s aualLqlaLlod a s u e ~ u l o ~ ~q81q a d Bu!u!muos u!sa~ Lxoda Jo Jo!neq
pa3JOJUl" J3qy [I!S!s ol pu0d~allOsIF21 3ql U! d a S 3 QUI? d x t ) 'dxS SUlJ51 aqL -aq an2!1ej pue al!sual aql pa!pnls [6] q o y a a pup s!l!ad 'ql8uaJls IrJnxay ~!aq1
'q1 pue E[ salqeJ U! pals![ a" qe!Jaletu U! u a y a p!~qLq~n!l!sod e si!q!qra p a a ~ o j u !Jaqy
~ ~ u o q ~ pup e ~ u!ys pa3loJ
asaqi JI, sa!llado~d[e~!ueqsaiu puqe"sLqd u!elli 1141 'SasJnoS jesol LuoJJ paU!q -u!aJ Jaqy p!UIeJe ql!m pllqkq q3!npUeS ad,<] ( V J ~ )p!Ull?Je/Uoqle~ip!lU"rp1Pql
-qo s e n Jaq!! les!s pup wpul . p e q e l a p L ~..p11 l e a 3 .Iq pa!lddns se.n (mu1 9) Jaqy papnlsuos i a q ~-cal!sodtuos p ! ~ q i qulsal ixoda p ~ s l o j u ! alaqy ~ uoqJe3/p!tusJe
ssela paddoq, a q . ~.pas" se,n e!pu~ 'epoJea .p11 uo!lelod~o3 lI!s!luaq3oJlad JO Jo!neqaq [CJnxaU aql uo pallodal [g] 'll! I 3 U J o J e ~ Is\al [Ps!Ul?q3aluOl3!lll
un!pur ~ 1 ~ u1 l;o ~ j psu!wqo rqnue14 (3da7) aualLqiaLlod L~!suap .no1 e uo SJolsalle y ~ e 1 2ay![ saAeqaq l s q y uolle8uola q2!q anuaq pue s a ~ ~ s o d m o s
rIV.LS31VIX:3dS3 aql q3noJql SyJRJ3 ale8edold 01 paJ!llbaJ [JnsI U!PJls aql SJXIFqUs ~ ~ ! S O ~ L L I O >
aql u! s n q y uo!ie2uola qX!q 'sa~!sodmosp!lqLq aql jo aJnl!eJ uo 1~111papnlsuos
aH - s ~ a q yuo!leZuola q8!q pue MO[ ;?U!U!PIUOS sa~!sodu!osp!~qLqJO ~ I ~ U ~ al!s J I S
-U21 3ql "0 p3llod3l [L] uaqamz J l a .u$l<ap p!lq,<q '32l?JJallI! X!llI?lll-Jaq!J 'SlUslll
-a3Joju!a aqr jo u o ! ~ ! s o d u oaA!lrlaJ
~ pue qlSua1 'alnleu .Y!JIPUI JO 3JnlPU se qJns
S1OIJPj .iq Pl'[llllIu03 318 sal!sodu~osp!rqiiq Jo s a ! l ~ a d o ~541 d leql p a l d a ~ s e( I ~ B
~ a u s S!3 11 le!raleu al!sodtuos Luv ui IuaJaqu! ca;imuc,ipos!p pue sa2muehpe aql
uaamlaq a x e l c q alqnJo.\ej a l o u e S! alaql q 2 ! q ~U! sruauodmos jelip!n!pu! aql
jo tuns pnqZ!aw e ii[dn~!s aq ol s ~ e a d d esal!sodulos p!~qLqj0 ~oi?l?qaqJ l ~ leql l
pai~udal~ u s jo q ~ISON -[g-l] sJaqsloa\a iuem <q paq!jssap uaaq aneq xlllern
aldu!s r u! s~aq!( jo spu!y OM] i;u!u!qluos s a d e ~ u e ~ ple!lualod
r a q l sa!lJa
512 G. KALAPRASAO.
KUKL'VILLA
J ~ S E PAND
H SABIITHOMAS Mcchmiical Properties of Six01 Retnfurcrd Low Detirn A,h.rrhylme Cunrpo~irr.r 513
testins machine with a cross head speed of 50 n~rnlminand a gauge length of 50
mm. The lcnsiie n~odulusand elongation at break ialues of the composites were RANDOM TYPE
calculated tnlm the stress-strain curve. Stress-strain data was obtained from load *GSRP
OSRP
[SISALO 141 ( G I ~ T So o l i i
vs. extensii~ncurves obtained during the tensile testing.
*GSRP [Glass 0 0 3 0 *GSRP iGil.3 0 05)
The flexural testing of rectangular specimens of the size (120 x 20.5 X 2.5
0GRP (GLI\SS 0 14,
mm) uah carried out, by three point bending mode. using an lnstron testing
machinc at a cross head speed of 2.8 n~rnlminand a span length of 100 mm.
RESClLTS AND DISCUSSION

Stress-strain curves of hybrid composites under tension are shown in Figures
1-3. Figure I shows the stress-strain behavior of longitudinally oriented fiber
composite>. I t can be seen from the figure that the sisal reinforced low density
polyethylene exhibits yielding behavior but the yielding tendency decreases to a
large extent as the volume fraction of glass fibcr in the hybrid composites in-
creases. This is due to the more elastic nature of glass fiber than sisal fiber. The
yielding behavior also decreases as the volume fraction of glass fiber increases.
This may be attributed to the brittle nature of glass fiber compared to sisal fiber.
But as the \.olume fraction of glass increases the yield stress of the composite in-
..
LONGITUDINAL TYPE
O S R P ( S I S A L 0 I*) *GSRP Glan 0 0 1 5 X G S R P GI.3. 0 031 STRAIN. %
*GSRP Glass 0 0 5 "GAP IGUSSO I 0
Figure 2. Stress-strain CUNes o f SRP, GRP and GSRP with randam fiber oiientatron
creases. The increases in the value of yield stress with volume fraction of glass
fiber is due to the high strength of the glass fibers which are oriented pcrpendicu-
lar to the direction of crack propagation. The shapes of the stres-strain curves in
Figure I also indicates that. as the volume fraction of glass fiber incrcases, the
hybrid coniposites (GSRP) become stronger and hardcr compared to SRP.
The stress-strain bchavior of randomly oriented complsites is dcpicted in
Figure 2 . All the hamplo show necking beha\ior. It i \ observed that these com-
posites exhibit lower value of yield stress than longitudinally oriented ones for all
compositions. The randomly oriented fibers act as harriers and prevent the stress
transfer between fiber and matrix. and thus contribute to higher concentration of
localized stresses. This explains the reduction in yield stress value and necking
behavior of random type hybrid composites. Randomly oriented con~pcrsitesex-
hibit high value of percentage strain compared to longitudinal and transverse type
compoiites (Figures 1-3). This can be due to the decreased elkct of rdndomly
-- oriented fibers on matrix strain than trans\.ersely o r longitudinall! orientcd
0 l 2 3 4 5
fibers. It may be noted that thc libers have considerably lou'cr percentage strain
STRAW, % compared to the matrix. and their alignment in the direction of the applied stress
Figure l . Slress-strain curves of SRP. GRP and GSRP with Iongitudmal fiber 0r;entalron.
eRectively reduces thc perccnwge strain of the matrix
Figure 3 shows the \tress-strain behavior of transverse type hybrid composites.
q13ua~lsapsual aql i n s .auo JSIIPI a q 01 ~ p a l e d u o s SP JSMOI ~ J EL;an[e,\aq1 SJUO
palUa!JO , i l u u p u ~jo~ssaJ aqj ul -sl;lqy ssel3 JO uo!lJelj aLunlw ruqe\!nba 3u!
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JO ql3ua11s apsual aql (COOpunme s s e l 3 j o UOIISRSJ amnion) lualuos xcrl2 no1 re
laql uaas aq 11 S a~nJ!gu1 .sal!sodmos p ! ~ q i qaql ~o I E ~ rI r \ u o ~ ~ ! p u o[a311 s
u a p ! U! p a ~ r d a ~s ~d l ! ? o d ~ u do sa t ) J o ? a ! u s d o ~ da[!sual Jp!,\Old OClP L-S s?lIlS!g
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~Jq (Pd)x ~
$55; ~ a ~ ~ u ~ ~ ~
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yaaJq le uo!reauola JUJ idas*?
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al!suat aql leql aies~pu!X ~ J ~ J I sa~n:y S a q i[a.\!i~adsas
~ ssrlS pur [ r s ! s ~ oUO!ISESJ
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s da,es!pu! ssel8 j o uu!lseJj
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apsual uo ' n a q y ssel% pug lays JO (@[U = 2 ) UOIIJPSJ a u l n l ' ~rual~%!nbaSu!
-u!auos d a g pue d a 01~s ~ a q !sse[8 ~ jo uo!l!ppejo isaya all1 moqx L-S s a ~ n 2 1 3
s,aq!j ssel6 jo uo!merj awnton 510.0 6u!u!eluo3 uorfei
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46 ' N I W l S
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mnwlxem ale sa!lJadold qlaua~lsalem!l]n pue snjnpolu aqJ .runLu!u!m aql noqs
sa~!soduiospaiua!Jo L[as~a,\sue~l a(1q.n u!eirs s3muas~adlunm!xeiu ~!q!qxasal!
-S~UIO p3IUa!JO
J ~ [ l u o p u e aqi
l i a q ~sa~es!pu!i l ~ a a l as ~ n 3 ga q . ~( q 1 ~ 0= ssalS)
Jaq!l SsPl8 JO a5muanssd lanh? ~ u ! l l ! ~ l ~ od8St) 2 asJa.\suEJl pUE uopueJ
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0) aqi a3npsJ Lia~!isa,gau!Jleul pue n q y usa.wlaq qrJua~rspuoq / ~ ! ~ P J J ~yearn I U I aql
, -0)
pue Uo!l2JJ!p 75311s pa~lddeaql 01 sJ?q!J J O UOllelua!J<~srlns!puad~ada q -adXr ~
uopuel JO leu!pm!%uo[ )o rtq1 ucqi la.no[ \ I ?d<r a.;Ja.\sueJl jo U!PJIS ? ' ; u u a ~ a d
~sal!sodllrosplsqiq p3lua!llr .ilas~a.\su!!~lU! iu!\eqsq Su!ysau j o a.,uarqe pua
ssaJls p[a!<jo anlah .no[ aql J C vlono2x? ~ c ! q l -uo!cu?l 5ollnp s a ~ ! s o d m op!~q.<q~
jo ~jnl!pl I U P ~ S U ue! asne.> 111" s!q1 rilieul pu!! cruq!] parua!r<r i i ? c l a \ s u e ~ ~
usanlsq 2u!puoq lcisqlJalu! ~ o o daql CII 2np rjnsgcp .in\S! Jaq!! oi ~ I J I C UUOJJ I
J?<SUF!Jl YY21lF aql '?Jl>JJJaqL 13qlO q2Ra 01 ps\<lddO all: \ l I O ~ I F I U ~ I J IJJqg ) PUP
p ~ l l d d eSSaJlS 3ql 'UO!lP!lU~!JU ~SJJ,\YUR.ll111 S U O l l i ~ l U . l l J L l LllOpUAJ PUP ~ ~ ~ ! p n l ! z
-uol i q JU ~ Irqr ucqi Janol qmiil .<~a.,.;I csl~\odulo.>31~1.lilqiSua~rsaqi >cc2 c141 u~
SVNOHL n e v U~N V H ~ ~ S vO i[rl.\iln~~y
'o ~ ~ v n d ~ i9v y PIS
Mechanic01 Proprnies of Sisol Reinforced Lon.Denriq Polyethylene C ~ n , ~ o s i r e r 517
G. KALAPRASAD,
KURUVILLA
JOSEPH
A N D SABU THOMAS
values of transversely oriented GSRP and GRP are nearly the same at all volume
fractions of glass. Figurp 5 also shows that at 0.03 volume fraction of glasb
(V, = 0.03) the alkali treated sisal incorporated GSRP has higher values than
GRP. Howevcr. furthcr increase in \,olume fraction of glass fiher beyond 0.03
decreases the tensile strength of G S R P This reduction in tcnsile strength is due
- volume fraction of elass fibers. At IOU
to the a ~ l o m e r a t i o nof fibers at hieh
volume fraction of glass fiber the increasing trend in tensile strength is attributed
to the inloroved disocnion
~~ ~
,
~~~
of sisal
-~~
cent study 1191 we have already. reported .

-
fibers bv the addition of elass fibers. In a re-
that the improvement in mechanical
properties of sisal-glass hybrid composites is mainly due to impro\,ed dispersion
of sisal fibers bv the additional incorporation of elass fibers.
O G S R PLONGITUDINAL ~ G S R R
PA N D O M Figures 8(a),.8(b) and 8(c) represent the photomicrographs of tensile fracture
* GSRPTRINSVERSE GSRP TREhTED LONG, surfaces of the SRP. GRP and GSRP resoectivelv. From these ~hotoeraphs - . it is
*GRP LONGITUDINAL * G R P RANDOM seen that as a resul; of poor interfacial bonding between fiber and matrix shcar
40 * GRPIRANSVERSE failure occurred in SRP, GRP and GSRP composites. Scanning electron micro-
l
"5 graphs of the same composites are shown in Figures 9(a), 9(b) and 9 ( c ) High
degree of fiber pull out as seen in these photographs gives a cicar evidence for
0 0 02 0.04 0.06 0.08 01
VOLUME FRACTION OF GLASS

r P P a n a GSRP *.m
F~gure5 . a , a ' - - 0 1 teils e srrengrh n m .c .me lractcri cl y ass l ~ G
0 ' C Id .C .-C 1ra:l.- olglass ,n GRPano 0 l4 ,n r a ' ,O!*me lracron of $,Sal ~n GSRP
a1 ln'ee o , t - i ! a ' . o' roe ' c e r s
"
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 01
Figure 6. Variation of tensile modulr?swith volume fraction of glass for GRP and GSRP with
0.14 initial volume fraction of glass in G R P and 0.14 initial volume fracfion of srsal in GSRP
at three orientatron of the fibers.
Mcrhanicul Propvrficr < f S i . ~ nReinforced
l Low Detirit? P<,lr.efhylene Comporifer 519
0' l
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1

\L\
Figure 7. Vanafion of elongation ar break wifh volume fracfion of glass for GRP and GSRP
with 0 14 rnifial volume fraction 01 glass ,n GRP and 0.14 ml!,al volume fraction of sisal in
GSRP at fhree orientalion of the libers.
the shear failure in all these composite\. The micrograph given in Figure 8(c)
shows failure surface of GSRP containing 0.05V, o f glass lihers. i t i s seen that
. , -
to SRP and GRP I n GSRP interface hctween glass-polyethylene is u,e;ll, com-
pared to sisal-pjlyeth! lcne due to the smooth surface of the glass tiher compared
to the surfidce ofthe sisal fiher. Therefore. failure initiates and randomly propa-
gates through the weal. glass-po1)cth)lcne intcrfiace.
Figure 6 shows the variation oitenkile moduli as a function of volume fraction
of glass tibers. Tensile moduli of all composites increase with increase i n volume
fraction o f g l a s tibcr. Generally as the volunle fraction of non-bonded fihers in-
crease. the tensile modulidecrease because non-honded tibers act as failure ini-
tiators. I n the prexent cabc there is no chemical interactton hetuecn the fiher and
the nmtrin. However, thereehisr only physical bendins duc to the mechanical in-
terlockin: of fiher and matrix. Addition of glass fiber increases the efiecti\,e Figure 8. Photomicrographs of fensile fadure suflaces of (a] SRP (V, sisal = 0.14).
mechanical interlock in^ betwcen sisal and plyethylene u,hich increases the fric- (b) GRP (V, of glass = 0.14) and (c) GSRP (V, sisa1:V of glass = 0.14:0.05)
tional force hetween the fiher and matrix. Therefore. one o f the reason for en-
-. 520
-
G.KALAPRASAD,
KURUVILLA
JOSEPH AND SABUTHOMAS Mechanical Properties of Sisal Reinforced L a w Uenxiw Polyethylene Composites 521
hancement in tensile moduli is attributed to the fractional force existing between

fiber and matrix. Tensile modulus of glass fiber is higher than that of sisal fiber.
Thi* also may be another reason for the enhancement in modulus upon glass fiber
addition. Figurc 7 sh(ws the elongation at break values of composite at different
volume Sraction of glasr fiher. In all cases addition of glass fiber reduces the elon-
gallon at break value becauhe of the lower clongation at break value of glass fiber
compared to thore of siral fiber and polycthylene.
Figures 10 and I I depict the Rexural properties of GSRP and GRP (longitudinal
oriented) as a function of volume fraction of glass fibers. Figure 10 shows that the
flexural strength of GRP is almost unaffected by the incorporation of glass fibers.
However. in the case of GSRP it goes on increasing with addition of glass fibers.
l'hc incorporation of glass liber by about 0.03 volume fraction in SRP containing
about 0.14 volume fraction of sisal increascs the flexural strength by 65% (14.12
to 23.23 MPa). Howe\,er. beyond 0.04 volume fraction the value increases and
levels of. This levelling off tendency indicates that the optimum volurnc fraction
of glass fiber for maximuni flexural strength is 00.1. It is interesting to note that
when the volume fraction of glass reacheh 0.09 the flexural strength of GSRP is
O G S R P OGRP
0' _____I
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
(Cl
Figure 9. Scanning electron micrographs af tensile lailure surfaces of (a1 SRP ( V , sisal =
0 741. lb) G R P ( V 01 glass = D. 74) and (c) GSRP /V. s,sal.V. of glass = 0 . 1 4 0.05). Figure 10. Variation of flexural strengrh with volume fractron of glass for GRP and GSRP
wirh 0.74 initial volume fracr~onof glass ;n GRP and 0.14 initial volume fraction of sisal in
GSRP at longitudinal orientation.
522 G. KALAPRAS~D,
KURWILLA J ~ S E PAND
H SABUTHOMAS Mrchonical Properties ofSi.ia1 Reinforced Lo*, Densily Poiyethylene Compurirc~ 523
LONGITUDINAL I
*GSRP "GRP
l
01
0 0.02 0.04 006 0 08 01

Figure 1 1 . Variation of flexural modulus with volume fraction of glass for GRP and GSRP
with 0.14 inrtial volume fraction of glass m GRP and 0.14 initial volume haclion of sisal m
GSRP a: langiludioal or!knta:ioion.
i"
very much closer to that of CRP. Figure 10 indicates that in the case of GRP. the
flexural modulus does not chanee considerably up to 0.04 volume fraction of
glass. Beyond 0.01 volume fraction of glass the value incrcases and finally levels
off. For hybrid composites (GSRPI the Rexural modulus regularly incrcases with
increase in volume fraction of glass and then levels off. This regular increase i h
due to the hybrid effect caused by the incorporation of glass fibers into SRP.
Photographs of the flexural tested samples of SRP, GSRP and GRP are shown
in Figure 12. Figure 12(a) indicates the conipressive side o f a flexural tested SRP.
A small whitening region of the surfacc of the sample denotes the formation of
a craze at the failure of the sample. Figure !?(h) indicates the compressive side
of GSRP. In this case. crazing increases a little more which can be observed from
a clear white marking o n the surface of the sample. Figure 12(c) indicates the
failure surface of the compressive side of GRP. A sharp white marking on the
material indicates that the crazing is brill higher in G R P That is, as g l a s content (Cl
increases, crazing of the conlpo\ite al\o increases. This may be due to the more Figure 72. Pho(om,crographs of the fa,lure surfaces 01 flexural tested (a) SRP
brittle nature of glass iiber than s i ~ fiber.
l (V,sisal = 0.14). (bj GSRP ( V . s,sal:V, a1 glass = 0.14:0.05) and (c) GRP (V, af
From the analyiis of mechanical propertie5 ofthe coniposites it can be said that glass = 0 14).
G. KALAPRASAD,
KURWIL.LA
JOSEPH A N D SABU
THOMAS
.......
.......
Mechmical Propenies rfSixa1 Reinforced Low Densif? Polyerhylene Cornpositer 525
.......
Table 2. Weights of sample before a n d after
!
immersion in boiled water.
........
S O W R E PACKING
Weight of Weight
.......
the Sample aner 3 h % of Water pm=o7@5
Sample (9) (4) Uptake

SRP 0.571 1 0.6372 11.57
GSRP 0.734 0.7566 3.07
1
HEULGOlUL PACKING
sisal behaves not as defects in GSRP but function as a good reinforcing agent in I h=..907
G S R P The results show that from the economic point of view, the maximum
benefit out of hybridizatoin is obtained at the volume fraction of glass around 0.03
i
or at the volume fraction of glass to sisal ratio of 0.03:0.14 in the present case.
The water absorption tendency of SRP (V, of sisal = 0.14) and GSRP (V, of
sisal:glass = 0.14:0.03) were determined by immersing these compositcs in boil-
ing water for three hours. Circularly shaped samples having diameter 1.96 cm
and thickness 2.5 mm were used for water absorption studies. The water absorp-
tion of GSRP was found to be 2 to 4 times less than that of SRP (Table 2). The
fibers are arranged in randomly close packed manner in which water im-
permeable glass fibers act as barriers and prevent the contact between water and Figure 13. Different packing arrangements of libers in the composite.
hydrophilic sisal fibers and hence prevent the water absorption of sisal fibers.
Comparison with Theoretical Predictions 340 v-

GSRP (Long~tua~nall
Tensile modulus of the same hybrid composite was calculated using the 0 EXPERIMENTAL CTHEORETICAL
modified Halpin-Tsai equation. According to the Halpin-Tsai equation
C,
--
I +A?!',
(1)
c, l-?$v,
where C,, and C, are the modulus of the hybrid composite and matrix. V, is the
volume fraction of the fibers. In this case V, is the tow1 volume fraction of the two
fibers. A is a constant cdlled Einstein's coefficient for composites which is
governed by the geometry of the reinforcement. In this equation thc ~ a l u eoCA is
found to he 2.5. It was reported that the A value for aggregates of \pheres can
have the sarne value as that of short fibers'or rods [ 2 4 ] The values of 7 and i: are
given by the equations.
C, and C, are the modulus values of the fiber and matrix respectivel!.
A
l
220'
0 002 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
where m, is the packing fraction of fibers Figure 14. Variafion of experimentaland theoretical tensile modulus with volume fracrion of
glass lor GSRP containing an initial volume fraction 01 0.14 sisial m longrtudrnal orientafloo.
Mechonicul Propenies of Sisol Reinforced Low Dmsir? Polycrhylene Comporirrs 527
It has already been reported on the value of packing fraction for different tiber d . .I Moi,r 4 ; . 11.1877
I ? . A\'cslon. l. and I. hl S ~ l l u r ~ , ~1W6
arrangements in the matrix [ ? 5 ) The different arrangements of fiber5 in the I ? . Ritthcr. H. l477 K ~ i r n i r i r ~671121739.
I~~,
niatrlx are shown in Flgure I 3 These include square packing. hexagonal packing I 4 Clarl. R A . a d h4 P Ansell I986 J Marer S r i . 21.269,
and random packing. In the present caie it is assunled that the fihers arc ran- l 5 Shah. A . h' am1 S C L a i l a d . 19RI f i h i ~ r S c ~Z.~ c l ~ , i i ~l541
/..
domly close ~ a c k e din the matrix. Therefore. the value of @.. = 0.82 is substi- I h hl<~h:tn. R . Kl,hore. 51 K . Shrldhaiand K. hl V. G K . b o . IUB.2 .l..Ifiii<'r: 4'4. k v . 2'49
tuted in thc Equation ( 3 ) . Figure I4 shows the rhcoretical and experimental \aria- l 7 Pavlllirrn. C . P S \lulher)ee. h 1 Br~hinAurnnrand A . D D a m ~ ~ i l v r i n1941
. J. .hl,rrcr Sci.
r i m o l tensile modulus \r ith volume fraction of glass fibcrs. The figure shows that 26 455.
the experimental \.alues o f tensile modulus is higher than the theoretical predic- l 8 Paulthr;m. C . P. S M u l h e r ~ s rand M . Brahrnakurnar 1491. l ReiraJ Pluii. Cot,ii,o,.. 11191
tions. The reasons ma! he attributed to the diflerent diameters of the sisal and 14 ICllaprarad. G.. S. Thunm?. C. Pavnhran. N. R. Neelakanlan and S Riilalr~rhnan 199.1. 1
R<,(,$ Plasr C ~ o ~ n ~ ~ ~ . ~
glass fiber which afcct the packing fraction. The mixtures of fibers with difierent ZO. kneph. K . . S. Tltoma\. C. Pavichran and h4 Brahlnakurnar. 1993. J. API,~. h,lroi. S<'<..4717.
diameter can pack more densely than one type of fihers having larger diameter. 21 Joreph. K.. S. Thornas and C. Pavilhran. In Prcss. Cr,,npo~.Scr. Z'chrioi
Diameter of the sisal fiber is \,cry much larger rhan that of glass fiber and hence 22 1,ad'i~esky.M. H . and l M . Ward 1986. Cutr~por.Sri. T~rJztzol..26:129
glass fiber can fill the interstitial space between thc closely packed sisal fibers to 23 P;nlthiiln. C.. P. S hlukhcrlsr., hl. Brahinskumsr and A D. Darnadaian. 1988. l. Mriii.!: Sci.
h r m an aeglomeratc. These agglomerate fibers may be able to carry a larger pro- L.o. 7:825.
portion of the load there by increasing the moduluh of the system. 24. N~eibun.L. E l W 4 Rkrrd Acizi. 1386.
25 chawta. K . K . 1987. C,,rrrpuria. ~ f ~ , r c r i n lS. C~I E , ~ C P and t i i g i n ~ m n f iNuu
. Yorl. NY Sprlngcr
CONCLUSIOS
T h e enhancement in the mechanical properties of sisal fiher reinforced
polyethylene composites by the incorporation of short glass fibers has been
described in this pdper. For longitudinally oriented composites the tensile
strength has been found t o increase by about 80% by the addition of quite a small
volume fraction, around 0.03, of glass. The tensile strength of alkali treated sisal
fiber containing composite shows an improvement of more than 90% by the addi-
tion of the same \,olurne fraction of glass. The flexural strength is found to in-
crease by about 60% for the same composition. It is also observed that water ab-
sorption tendenq of the composite decreases by the process of hybridization.
T h e theoretical values of the tensile modulus calculated by Halpin-Tsai equation
have been found to he 1ou.er rhan that of experimental values which has been at-
tributed to the increased fiber dispersion with the incorporation of glass fibers
into the composites.
REFERENCES
1 Sulllalcr~i.rler.
J and D. S h ~ ~ r 198.
c YI3l 157
G,iriporirc~,~.
2. Loucll. I 1 R IVfi R<.ircl P l c i $ i .??i71.216
3. Bunrcll. 4 R and B H.<rr#\ 1TI-I. (b,,~p,lrii<%,LlJ1l57.
4 l~i\chri.S ;and G \lrronl 1487 Cirlziiioi. Sri. Z,,b,iiil.. Z X 2'1.
5 h p h . G. l t i t C H l ,5 I . H;incr,\. cd . I.,,nd,>n:Allied
Sciuncc Puhli,hcr\
6. Arrincr>n.h1 and H Hrrm 1Y7n C,,niparia~$.9131:I-IY
7 Zurhen. C. 1W: l .lf,,rc'r L i . lZ:l3?5
. H. l i ~ i ~S.l \.i . n n ~ n n . K . Frlcdrrch. h Schulicand H D \\j:ncr.
X M a n ~ n l G.. I Y X Y Crl,ni,i,nr~
du.5. Z(lt6l
9. PCIII,. A A . I > I .,",II \I \I r ) ~ L , i 1992 c , , , , ~ l~
J i l~
l l Y~ , ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ,
10. Mnmn,. G . S. Fr.hi.i. F K Tulcr and H D U j g n c ~Iwn 1 hfoir.r S , # . . 131119-1126.
1 1 . Amnhime. J.. H Hxrcl. A Fllhcn and G. Marurn. 149Z Or,,no. .Pi i~clirinl. 43105-116.
J O l I K h A I 0 1 M A T L K I A L S S C I L k C b 32 lI'lY71 4 2 6 1 4 2 6 7
-
Theoretical modelling of tensile properties of short

sisal fibre-reinforced low-density polyethylene
composites
G . K A L A P R A S A D , K . J O S E P H , S. T H O M A S *
School of Chemical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Priyadarshini Hills P.O.,
Kottayam, 686560, Kerala, lndia
C. P A V I T H R A N
Regional Research Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram, 695079, Kerala, lndia
T h e e x p e r i m e n t a l l y o b s e r v e d t e n s i l e p r o p e r t i e s ( t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h a n d m o d u l u s ) of s h o r t sisal
f i b r e - r e i n f o r c e d LDPE w i t h d i f f e r e n t f i b r e l o a d i n g h a v e b e e n c o m p a r e d w i t h t h e e x i s t i n g
t h e o r i e s of r e i n f o r c e m e n t . T h e macroscopic b e h a v i o u r o f fibre-filled composites is affected
b y f i b r e l o a d i n g , o r i e n t a t i o n a n d l e n g t h o f t h e fibres in t h e c o n t i n u o u s m e d i u m . T h e
interfacial a d h e s i o n b e t w e e n f i b r e a n d m a t r i x also plays a m a j o r r o l e in c o n t r o l l i n g t h e
m e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s of t h e fibre-filled composites. In t h i s study, a c o m p a r i s o n is made
between e x p e r i m e n t a l data a n d d i f f e r e n t t h e o r e t i c a l m o d e l s . C o m p o s i t e models, s u c h as
parallel a n d s e r i e s , Hirsch, C o x , Halpin-Tsai, m o d i f i e d H a l p i n - T s a i a n d m o d i f i e d B o w y e r
a n d B a d e r , h a v e b e e n t r i e d to fit t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l data.
1. I n t r o d u c t i o n elfscts at the fibre cnds are not taken into ilccount, :~nd
The mechanical propcrtics of fibre-filled composites the second is tliat the matrix tensilc stress possesses no
arc alrectcd by a number of parameters such as libre radial dependence.
length, tibre orientation, fibre dispersion, fibre geo- Piggot modilied Cox's tlicory by introducing a new
mctry and tlic degree of interfacial adhesion between theory which combines plastic deformation at the
fibre and matrix [l-51. In the literature, a number of libre ends with elastic deformation towards the centre
equations and theories have been developed to de- of the libre during tensile loiiding [7].
scribe the relation bctwccn these paralneters and It was also reported tliat tlic strength of short fibrc-
properties of constituent components of composites. rcinforced thermoplastics and tliermosets are highly
Tlie ellicicncy or load transfcr li-om matrix to librc in dependent on two Factors, such its "fibre orientation
a composite is strongly related to the optimun~mech- factor" and "fibre length factor" which contribute to
anical properties of the composite. the strength of the composite 181. In another study,
One of the earliest theories of reinforcement de- Piggot developed an equation for calculating the min-
veloped by Cox [6] is based on shear-lag mechanism imum volulne fraction of libres for a good reinforce-
obscrvcd ill librous composites. According to Cox, ill ment [9].
hear-lag analysis, the main aspects of controlling the Ter~nonia [l01 presented a computer model to
propcrtics of a co~iipositeare critical length oftlie fibre study the elfect of libre characteristics on the mecha~l-
and intcrFacia1 shear strcngth between librc and ical properties or short libre-reinforced composites.
matrix. The critical length of tlie fibre, l,, in com- Their studies rcvcaled t l ~ i i tt l ~ ecllect of librc orienta-
posites is ;I parameter which dctcrmincs the atnoullt o f tion on lnodulus atid tcnsile strc~~gtli or the composite
\tress transferred to tlic libre. Thilt is, if tlic length-to- is very weak ilnd it11 . x ~ ~ ) t i ~ i i librc
~ ~ l i l a s p ~ c tratio is
di;~metcrratio is higher than the critical aspect ratio, essetitial for clkctive rrinforccmcnt. Tllcy modelled
cu~iipositesshow superior propcrtics, while for a libre the whole collipositc rnatcrii~las ;I thrce-dimensional
wliosc aspecl ratio is smaller than tlie critical aspect lattice of bonds having dilrcrcnt elastic constants for
ratio, colnposites show weaker properties. In Cox's the fibre and for (lie matrix. They also found that in
treatment, interfacial shear strength is produccd on composites, a micro-Qilure nlechanisrn origin:iles at
the s u r f ~ ~or
c cthe libre due to the "shear lag" bctwccn tlie libre cnds and propagates along the libre inatrix
libre and matrix during the failure of the composite. interface with no libre breaking. Tcrmonia [l01 ciil-
I~lowever.Cox's shear-lag analysis has two rnajor dis- culated a value for tlie rci~~forceliient elliciency filctor
advantageb. The lirst one is tliat stress amplification based on their observations i n that study.
r whotn all currcbponderice h b o ~ l l dbc addrcned

' A t ~ i l ~ utu
(X122 2461 i 1997 Ciiu/,nzutt & llull

M o ~ i e u cri t r i . [I l] suggested a computer ~ i i o d c l l i n g
for the thcorctical undcrst;lnding of tile concept o f
critical length i n composites. The clkcts of intcrhcc
;lnd 11l;ltrix propertics on critical aspect ratio was also
s t ~ ~ d i cby
d them. They found that critrcal aspect ratio where V, is the matrix \~olumefraction, v,,, is the
i s reli~tcd to interracial shear strength and fibre Poisson's ratio of the tn;ltrix.
strength on11 and not CI matrix properties. They fur- Nielscn ~ n o d i l i c dKerncr's equation hy i ~ i t r o d u c i n g
lher ihowcd that under certain circumstances. matrix a function called the particle packing l a c ~ o r BF . [?I]
visco\ity illid s t r , ~ i i i r i ~ t cc i ~ nitifli~cnccthe c r i t i ~ l l
ahpect ratio. Karain 1121 studied the efect of fibre
volumc fraction on lllc strength properties of sh0l.t
i r - i ~ r c c ~ i I Icc prnposcil ;I n i o d i l i c a t i o ~ ~
to tlic cx~stilifinlodel ill order to calculate the strength A accounts for tlie h c l o r s such as gcolllctry o f t h c filler
of ilic c ~ ~ t i i ~ ~ ~Tlic ~ s i tm(xiilici1tio11
cs. is bilscd on the and Poisson's ratio of the m;~trix. U accounts for tlie
reduction of'intcrli~ci;il surf;~ccsdue to libre fibrc and rzliitive moduli of lillcr and m;~trix
lihrc bold inter;~ctions.
2. Theory wlicrc !Cl,, ; ~ n dXI,,, are tlic Yoling's moduli of pilrtic-

Scvcral thcorics h;~vc been prop~lsedto model the
ulate filler and ni;ttrix, rcspccti\.ely.
~cnsilcproperties of c o ~ ~ l p o s i t~ii;~tcrial
c i n terms or
Eqo;lfions l 7 ;ire rnz~itily;~pplicablc only i n the
dilkrc~~ p;~ran~cters
t [ l 3 161. These thcorics can be
.: field of parliculatc-rcit~fc~rccd polymers, especially i n
,1\>111cd into t w o groups. b;iscd on the nature or the
non-rigid polytner tn;~triccs.
~nittrixand tlic rcink,rccments. Thesc are the theories
c11rc~nf<~l-cc~nents i n ;I non-rigiil matrix 2nd those i n
;I ~ r i y c ~
l ii;~trix.
2.2. The theories of rigid reinforcement
articulate and fibrous) in a rigid
matrix
2.1. Theories of rigid particulate
These thcorics c a n he successfully applied i n the sys-
reinforcement in non-rigid polymer
tcms of both p;~rticul;~tc; ~ n dlihrous rcinforccmcnl.
matrices
2.7.7. Einstein and Guth equations
I'hcse equations arc mainly used for tlie theoretical
2.2.1. Parallel and series model
c:~lclll;,tii,n of the properties of particulatc (spherical)-
c c o n l i n g to tliese modcls. You~lp's modulus and
reiliklrccd ~pi>lyincr c0111positc\ 117. I X ] .
t e ~ ~ s i lstre~igtli
c arc c i ~ l c ~ ~ l i ~ it scidn gtlic IOIIOUIII~
According to tlie Einstein ecluation
equ;~tio~~s.
\i,liere \ I , and ;\I,,,

are the Young's modulus of c o n - .\I,= !\I, L , + .\I,,,L',,, 1x1
positc and matrix. rcspectivcly. V,, 1s the particle vol- 7', = T,V, t T,,,L'6,, i'll
time fr;~ction. G u t h derived an equation [ l 8 1
Scrtcs l l l o ~ l c l
\I, = ,,,,(I t 25V,,+ 14.lV,'l (21
\ .
.\l,
.\l,>, l 101
Tlris c q ~ ~ ; ~ t iisofurtllcr
n rc1;ltcd to the tensile slrcngth,
1',. IIC composite .,\l,,LL; ,!I, l',,,
where AI,. hl,,, and !\l, arc the Young's nloduli of

composite, m:l[rtx ; ~ n dlihrc. rcspcc~ivcly.T,. T,,,itnd
2.7.2. Modified Guth equation T , are the tensile strength of the co~iipositc.~ i i a t r i x
('oh;in 1191 i n t r ~ d u c c da particle shape filctor. S, for arid librc, respectively.
non-spherical particles. whcrc S is defined as the ratio rncrdel. il i s assutncd that
I n tlic case of :l l~;~l-;~llcl
,)l' the l c i i g t l i - t ~ ~ - ~ ~pilrticlch.
~~Itl~ isostr;~i~i conditiolls cxirl f i ~ r b i ~ t l i t r :111d
The rnodilicd C;uth relation is given by libre, whcrc;~s i n the c;~sc of :I rcrics modcl. slrcss
AI, - +
.%1,,,(1 0675SV, + 1.62~'~;) (4)
was nssumcd to be u n l h r ~ ni n hcllli matrix :llld
librc [E].
2.7.3. Modified Kerner equation 2.2.2. Hirsch's model

Young's ~nodulusof spherically shaped particulatc- Hirsch's illodel is a cornhination or parallel ~ l n dseries
lilled polylncl- composites is given by Kcrner's models 1231. This model cat1 be rcprescntcd h) Fig. I.
4262
1 Matrix
-Fibre
/ Parallel Series
11 is givcn by Equations 16 i ~ n d17. illid ;ICC~IIII~\ fur

the relative moduli of libre and ~ ~ i : ~ l rrcspccti\ciy.
is.
J, depends ilpoli the p:~rticlc packing fri~clion.Tlic
v;~luc of A is deter~nincdfrom the Einslcin cocllicicnl.
K, rcporlcd i n a p r c \ . i o ~ ~\ t\~ l d y [30], d),,,,,, is t l ~ e
Stress Hirsch maximum packing rri~ction.; ~ i i dIi;is a vi~luc0.785 for
direction square arrangement o f librcs. 0.')07 fur I ~ e x i ~ g ~i ~nri -~ l
ray of libres and 0.82 for r:tlldolll p i l ~ k i l l g l i b r c ~ .
According 10 [his model, Young's tnodulus and tensile 2.2.5. Cox model
strength ;ire c;~lculatzd using the fullowing equations According l o Cox':. theory. long~tudin;~lYouny's
niodulus, M,, is gi\,en by the equ;~tion [6]
+ l,,,',,,
(221
where )M,,,i ~ n dA l , arc ihc Young'\ ~ l m d u lof

i ~ii;~lrix
7, = v ( , ' +Il')+( T'Tc" ( 13) and lihrc
VC + T fVC,>
L,
1-lie p:irarncler. v. is cxpl;iincd i n Section 4.
wlicrc !.is the radius o f i l i c l i b ~ c(;,,,

. the s l i ~ . ;modillus
~r
2.2.3. The Halpin-Tsai model of matrix. K the ccntrc-to-ccntrc dislancc of the lihrcs.
This niodcl lins been used by several researchers i n tlie and A , tlie i t r w of the libre.
systctn of polymeric blc~idswhich consist of continu- F o r licxagon;~llypacked lihrcs
<)us slid discontinuous phases [24,25]. However, i t
was rcporteil ili;lt this modcl was ;~lsoi ~ s c f ii~nl detcr-
mining the properties of composites that contain dis-
contini~uuslihrcs oriented i n tlie loading direction
[?(l 2x1. For squ;~rcpi~ckcdlibre5
Aceill-di~igto H;ilpili Tsai. Young's modulus. 1\,1,.
of tllc cr)~iiposilci s g i \ ' c ~ h)
i
According to Cox's mcidcl. lc~isilc s i r c ~ ~ g l l i7,.

. is
pivcn by [6]
p is givcn by the E q ~ i i l t i o24.

~l
2.2.6.Modified Bowyer and Bader's model

According to Uowycr i ~ n dUi~dcr'h1110dcl.the t c n s i l ~
strength of short fibrc-rcinf~irccdlliermopli~sticcom-
\i.hcrc <IIS tile iiic;lsure of libre geometry. lihre distri-
posites i s the sum of contributions frotn subcritic.~l
h ~ i t ~ , )and
n lihrc loading conditions.
;IIICI
s~~pcrcritic;~l rjl].
fibres ;111cl !II;II l'ro111tllc 111;1trih
Tcrisilc s t r c ~ ~ gist lgiven
~ h)
2.2.4. Modified Halpin-Tsai equation
d l l a l p i n T s a ~cqu;~lionhy includ-
NI~I\OII ~ i i o d ~ l i ctlic wlicrc K , i s the libre oriclit;~tionf:~ctur. I l c p c n d i ~ l g
ing IIIC~I:,,,I~I~~II I~;,~!.III~l'r;tct~,u~.+,.,,,>z. ,>l't11c rcitl- librc orientarions. K , also cli;~ngcs[X]. K 2 13 IIIClihrc
i o l c c n l ~ : ~L291
, ~ A ~ c ( > r d10~ t~h ili l c n ~ t l factor.
i
For lihrcs with l >l,. X
Fol- lihrcs with 1 <I,. T A & L E I I I'l>y\icel a c ~ dntccli;tct~c;tlp~opcrlicio l \~r;tllihre
(g an ') ,Ir~.ngll~ nlodulus at hrcak tllo11

wlicre I is the length of the libre and i, is thc critical IC;I'~) ~c;t':t~ I'%I
length cif the lihre. You~ig'smodulus ;llso can bc cal-
cui:~ted uhing tlic sanlc cqu;~tion 1.41 (1.3 0.7 'I zo 5 14 11x1 WO
if, = +
M r K L K 2 V l M,,I'., (31)
The main purpose of this study was to correlate the
cxpcriiiicnt;~I tensile propertics or shorc slsal fibre-
rcinlorccd low-dcnsily polycthylenc with theoretical
\;~liics. c:~lcui;~lcdh) v;~rious rhcort.ric;~l niodc!~. I t
L\;Is rd
l II~~II
sUIlle 01 II~C IIIU~CIS SI~OW a ~ L I O ~
; ~ g r e e ~ i i c nwith
~ cxpcrimental villucs. The models
clc;~rly i~idicalcthat the parilmelcrs such as libre ori-
c ~ l t n t i o ~tibre
l. length, fibre lo;rding, librc dispersion
and interf:tcial shcar strength hctwecn libre and
iii;~irix11l:i) ;I nl;?jr>rrole i n conlributing to the lcnsilc
pr<,pcrl~ciof i l i o r t librc-rcinli~rccdpolymer com-
posilc\. The 11mit;~tionof lhcsc ~iiodclswas also con-
\idcrcil i n this sludv.
3. Experimental procedure
Sls;il lihrc was obtained from local sources. I.I)I'E.
fl.il(ied SI; i~idotlicnc lh MA 400, was supplied by
Indian Petrochcniic;~lCorporation Ltd. ha rod;^. In-
di;l The properlies or sisal and L D P E are listcd i n
Tahlcs I and II.
Sisal. ILDPE compositcs \vcrc prepared by the solu-
11,111 ~ l i i x i i l g I C C ~ I I1:ihrc
I ~ ~was I C ildded
. to s viscous
\litrr) of p~ilyctliqlcnci n l o l i ~ c n cwliich was prcp;~rcd
l h j ;~cI<li~ig IIIILICII~10 ;I ~ i i c l lo l 1!1e polyli~cr.T11e
~ n i x i i i gwar c;irricd out man~~;!llyi n a st;linlcss stecl
lha~kcr~ l s i n g;I s!;~lnicssslccl slirrcr. The icmpcr:lturc
was m:~itit;~incdat 110 C' during lnixing for ;tbout
10 tiiin. The niix u;ls then tr;insfcrrcd into ;Illat tray SI;
lumps and kept ill ;I vacuuni oven at 70 C for 2 h 10
rcliiove the s o l e ~ i l .Composites containing l0'%. g ~ l p l i sof d11I2rcl11o r ~ c ~ i l ; i i i o ~ill
i s tlic lilhrc i n ~ l i c
?O"~U. ;ind 30"/,, h> weight o i l i h r c were prepared using ~ii;\trix.Tcns~letcslillg 111' ( l i e c ( > ~ i i l x ~ s \i;ISt c ~ci~rried
lihres oflctiglli i n the range 2 10 mni. The niix is then 0111 using ;III i n r l r o n i i i c s t i n g M;~cliine
cx~ruilcdt l i r o ~ ~ g;Ih ram-type li;~nd-opcr;~tedinjec- rnoilcl I I ' J O ;l1 ;I cro\\lic;id \pccd of 200 i l l 1 1 1 111il1 '
tioii-moulding m;icliinc at a tcmpcraturc of and gauge l c ~ i g t o l ~i i(llnlii. At lc;~st l i \ c cpecilncns
125 r 3 C . For the prepar;~lianor longitudin;~lly and were leslcd h r ~:ICIT SCI c ~ s:~~iil?lcs
i i t ~ i c l 111c 11ic;~ti
l~-:~ns\crs;~lly oricntcd compositcs. the extrudiitcs linv- vitlucs arc rcpi,ricd.
Ins ;I J ~ a t ~ r c l c0l.l r m m well: crillcctcd ~ I Iirlig~icd I~ ill
;I leaky mould [ 3 2 ] They were then comprcssion
r ~ l i ~ l l l d c;l1d prcsstirc o f i ~ h o l K~ MP:I
t and ill ;I lcmpcr- 4. Results and discussion
;~tusc111' 125 i7 C'. .lhc co~nposi!css o obl;~incdwere ('~~1ii1h0siles COLII:IIIIIII~ 2 10 111111 1 ~ 1 1 ~ 1 1libre,
1 \\~Ic
rcriiovcd :~flcrcoolitig tlic 111o~1ld below 50 C 1 I<ecti~li- an;~lyscd i n l l i i s s111dy. l l ~ ~ ~ v ci t~ \v;is ~ c r ~,O L I I I ~ t l i ; ~ t
g ~ i l a rhpccimcns or s i ~ cl 2 0 mlii X 20.5 rnln X 2.5 m m composites sri~li incorpor;llcd h n l m librc lengllis
ucrc cut iroiii aho\.c co~iipositusfor further tcstinp. showed ~ i ~ ; ~ x i ~tclisilc i i ~ ~ rsn~ r c t ~ g t[33].
li ~l'licrc~orc,
Ilandonily oricntcd composite sheets (120 mm X h mlii librc Ic11f11i\vi~sused ill illis s t ~ ~ dFig. y . 3 shows
12.5 111111X 3 111111wcrc ) prepared by standard injection ;l compariso~rof the v;lri;~lion i n tlicorclic;~l;III~ex-
m o t ~ l i l i n gof tlic niix using n ram-lypc hand-i~ijeclion p c r i ~ i i c ~ ~tensile
tal strength vi~lucsof l o n g i r ~ ~ d i ~ ~ ; ~ l l y
~ i h o i ~ l d ~tii;~cIiinc.
ng Fig. 2. shows the optic;~l photo- oric~itcdcomposilcs wiih \olunic l r a c t i o ~ i<lihrcs. ,I
4264
r a j S I O I ~ I ?- ~J U I [ [ O J ~ U O aql
~ leql paunss!! S! 11 'x!llelu
pun a ~ q gu a a ~ l a q ~ a j s u r l l ssalls aql san!utlalap
q ~ t q m~ a l a t u e ~n ~S!d X L F ~ punoj I SPM I! 'uo!lc~lba
s!ql m o l d .sal!sodtuoa palua!Jo L[[ei1!pni!8uo[
alq!, $0 uo!13eq aunloA
JOJ S! 61 u o ! ~ e n b a u! r jo anlen aql uaqM L[uo
CZ'O OZ'O LL'O PI0 LL'O 80'0 90'0 p u n o j uaaq seq sanlen [eluam!~adxa pue [ n a ! ~ a ~ o a q i
uaamlaq l u a m a a 1 8 ~ a q l slapolu sa!las pun 1a[lt!11?d
JO UO!Il?U!qLU03 l? 'lOPJ U! 'S! [1pOUI qDSI!H 3 q l
,salqrj pa11?83188e pun ~JII!%~JB%I!-UOU
UJaMlaq L [ u a ~ a u npalnq!lls!p aq I I I M pea[ p q d d e
aq) a3uaH .x!liem aq1 U! pa1elamo[88e aq I[!M a l q y
aql J O awes 'UO!IJI?IJ a u n l o h q9!q II! I n 8 'X!IIPW aql U!
s a l q y pas~ads!p-[lam aqi q8norql peo1 J O uo!lnq!lls!p
lallaq aql jo i[nsal e sn pa,%a!q3e S! al!soduo3 aql
u! U!l?l]S l0 SSJllS UlOJ!Un '3lqlJ Jql J O U0!13PIJ JUln[OA
MO[ I P i ~ 13ej~ aql~ o i p[ a ~ n~ q ! ~ ~aq i i : ue5 s ! q ~'san[nn
leluatu!ladua ql!m luatuaar4e [nu!Z~eull! moqs s l a p o u
[q11!11?d p u ~ra!~~s"sa~q!l
? aqi jo UO!I~I!IJamn[oA mol l e
'1rq1 1 .4!.~ WUIJ uaas aq ue3 11 a l a 'qi8ual a l q g ln3!l!lo
. s p a alq!] at[> II? uo!]nllua3uo3 ssalls 'UO!lElUa!lO
a ~ q gu o Lla81el spuadap lajsueli s s a w ay1 'sai!sod
- u o s a ~ q ! j - ] ~ o qjos a s m aql u1 .sal!sodu~oaa r q g - i ~ o q s
jo inrji u o ~ lualql!p j s! a i ~ s o d u ~ opasroju~ar-alqy
a
snonulluos jo ws!urqsam ~ ~ J S U I ? ~ ~3111 - S S3~1:s
~ J ~s!ql
S
U! uo!las!l![du!s I ~ A Oun L l l ~ a l sS! u l e ~ l suloJ!ull I o
," "l[llpD"l s.;?""",~ ! ! s l a . l o a l P"'! ~1?l11"11!1"d~a ssalls mloj!un ~ a q l t ajo no!~dwnssl! aqj. . s s ~ ! s o d u o a
U! I I I A a111 J O ~ ~ x ! ~ t ! d t u oI: n smoqs p 2 1 ~ s!~aiuLo[d p a a ~ o j u ! a r - a ~ q !snonu!luoo~ ~o qlBualls
.Lla~!lnadsa~ 'ZZ aq) aq!nsap o l pasn a l e slapoul saflos pile 1a11el~d
plll! 1; '()i S110llllllh7J i?lll\ll p3ll![11311?D2.11: ?I PLIP V a ql!n is!!a~ ~ q aa12e
' L ~ [ I : I I S ~ss1111:,\ ~ i : l u a u ! ~ a d xaq] i
'4 '11 J O sxi11!,%a q l ~1a11111!111p a y ~ e dasap palua!lo L[ s l a p o u sa!las p u e [alleled ;?u!moqs s a u n a a q suo11 ~
-tuop111?1U! pa8u1:111! ~ . I Is!a r q ! ~i r q l 4u!urnss~Lq uayel -nnba I a p r t ] p u a r a L ~ o qpa!j!poru p u r qnsJ!H 4u!sn
.;!:M J, an[l:,+ a r l l i ~ o ! ~ n n h4u!sn
g palt![nolt!o slam pais!pald slapow asoql u! uaas seM q14ua11s allsual
s a n l ~ ! ~ ~ ~ ( ~ a[!slni % u a r ~agqr
s .l3po1u s!ql 111 'ql4ua.11~ pahrasqo k[(eluam!~adxaput: L[[en!)a~oaqiail1 uaamlaq
a11slla1 110 1aa,~1aalll!l s1:q salq!~jo 11o!ls1?1~8u!ysnd lIO!)Pl3llO"OD ~ 0 0 % V 'SJ.lq!/ J 0 110!13RIJ l1UnlOA 241 U!
urnru!xt!or at11 sau!t111ai3p 1 1 3 1 q 101aej ~ P JO uo!ianpo~l a r e a n u ! ql!m LllelnSa~sasl?ar3o! q18uarls a l ~ s u a'sasea
-(I! 11:111 " I : ~ A ~ L1.11:als
.I '!g.[. . ~ I P3111
S L ~ ~ I I : U I ! X O I ~ ~[l'I! ! I,! 1 1 ~ ~uaas [ 1 aq 111:~11 .a.1114!13111 LI!11,n(lqsSI! s[apoul
?.I! S3llll:A l(18ll3.11~3IlSlIJl 'SJSI!J L(l0q II! 11!1[1 1133s sno!li!n ay1 4u!sn pa1~lnsl1:s s l a n snnll?.t [l!o(laJoaql
3q 11l!> I [ 5 '8!,:1 111 p3l"dap all! 'IlOSl3!N kq 113A!? U<>!l
-l:nha L 11 pa!l!po~11 3111 pu!! I P S J - ~ I ! ~ [ P [3111
.[
"NUJ SXl[l!A 1 1 1 8 ~ ~ 5[!S11511 1 ~ 3111 ~ L I I M O ~S2A. S 1110 a q l
.san~!!qe~uatu!.~adu~
3111 I[I!M a.lq!l 3111 J O 110!1.7l!.IJ 31111110A MO[ 1P L [ [ P ! ~
-adm s3nll:n q18oa11s apsual it! luamaa141! alqeuoseal n
sntoqs I J ~ O L US,XO,J .[9] spua 3.1q!j aql q4norql pal aq!) )a uo!iDe,) alunloA
-I!olsurlr S! pno[ l!!!xr o u alaqm pul! 13ajlad S! a31?j131
CZ'O OZ'O LL'O PLO LL'O 800 S00
-111 u!llrul arqg nqi arai[M ' a s u o d s a ~[ns!uPqsaul ,111111
111 3llSl![3 1111!111~.1 Xl.lll!l1I pill! 3lq![ 3111 1[3!1[M ll! LU~ISLS
3111 .IOJ .(l110 a[q~:?!lcld~:S! f .Z!.{ u! I J ~ O L L Is,xo;)
sanln" [rlusu~!.ladxa
1lllM 111a1Ll~~.l~l! p004 U! S.0 pUl! I 3q 01 pl1nOJ aJ3M 'X
pill! ')I ,I(>san11?~3111 'an11?~3ull!s"'1 3 ~ s ~ u o !8l ~ n h o
qloq " I = IIXIM xni!3q '0s IO hz oo!lenbcj laql!a
au!sn palt!lnslns q ~ m f l ,JO y ~ I F A .[R] U O I I
-na.~!psssrls paqdd!! aq) U! sa)!sodu!on p ~ o ~ o j o ! a ~ - a r q ! l
I l O l [ S p3118![1! IOJ [ S! ' y J0 a n [ l ? U q l IRql pa11oda1 Sl?M
I [ "y 'lOl3l!J 1[18~31 3.14!1 Put! " y '.1013l?J LIO!)l!lU3!10
a.rq!l sl! g ~ n s'slolnej CIMI ql!m sleap 'gz uo!]anbg
II! uan12 S! [aporu .rape$[ LIP 1aLm08 p3!l!pom a q l
.sal~sodiuos
.7Jq!l-IIOl[S J O .lllO!hl!ll3q l l l D 1 3111 8ll!q!.l0~3p LI!
loiat!~ Zn!n!ru.~a~apo S I r j o anli?n 3111 leql w a s S!
I! snt1.L s p u a alq!] ar[i in lnql:, uo!~ns!j!ldml? ss91ls p u s
1[1811a[a.lq!l 'lll~~ll!llla~.l~> a.lq!l L~11~1?111a.rl! ,c> all[I!,, 3111
.,
longitudinally oricntcd co~npositeswith [he volume
fraction of fibres. I t was observed t1i;it a very re;lson.
able corrcl;~tionexist between theoretical 2nd experi.
ment;ll v:tIucs i n most of tlic modcls except series a ~ ~ d
p;lrallcl nlodcls. A good ;~grccmcn[is sec11ill [he cast
of Hzilpin Ts;~i, and modified Bowyer and Bader
models. 111the c;ise of the Hillpill Tsai and modilicd
H T mndcls, ;I pood ilgrccment hctwecn cxperimcntal
;ind t l l e ~ r c l i cY i ~~~u l l g ' s~iiodulusvi~lttcswas observed
as co~?iparcd to the f i t of the experimental and theorcl-
ical tensile s t r c ~ i f t l ivalues. Fig. 5 shows ;I comparison
of the v ; ~ r i ; i ~ i o111 ~ iihcorctical as well as cxpcrimc~ital
Yoilng's r n ~ ~ d u l\,:ilues ~ i s of ralido~nlyoriented com-
posites \villi v(i1~1nc fr:~ciii)~i ~ f l i b r c sThe. tlirsch and
lnodilicd Bo\bycr and l3;ldcr nlodcls are used fkr the
c;llcill;~lioll of thcurclical values. Roll1 rnodcls par-
tially ;[pi-cc with the cxpcrimcnlal v;llues. A l l other
rnodcls L I S O ~ ill tlie study are not applicable i n the
systc~iiill' ~ l n d o n l l yorienteci cnmposiles. I n the case
o l llirscli's iniodcl. lcl~silc strength illid Yoi~ng's Volume fraction of fibre
modulus v;~lucs were ~ l l c u l n t c dusing Equations 12
a n d 13. 111lhis c;~sc.agreement between expcrimcntal
and tlieorc1ic;tl valucs has hecn found only when the
v;~luco l \ i n Lqilations I ? and 13 is 0.1 For ralidomly
oric~ilctlco~nposilcs.Tllc v;ilue of Y li;~ssame meillling
;IS i n 11ic C:IX ~ ) f l o ~ ~ g i l ~ ~oriented
d i ~ i i ~ lcotnpositcs.
ly 111
the cusc of the ~ilodilicdllowycr ;lnd 13;1dcr niodcl.
tcti\ilc slrcngtli and Young's modulos villucs were
c;ilc~il;itcd ~ l s i i i gEquiili(>lis28 illid 31. The V R ~ L I C o f K 2
i n lllc equ;~tiotiis !lie s;inlc for both longitudinally and
sandornly oric~ltedcoliiposites, but libre orientation
fi~ctor,K,. is dillcrent for randomly oriented corn-
posites. I n this c;~sc,tlic value of K,, For good agree-
ment hetwcc~itheoretical and experimental valucs,
u,;I!, found to be 0.2. bcc;iusc i t has already bccn
reported 11i;it tllc v;iluc of K , for fibres ;irr;~ngcdi n the
random f:isllion i s 0.2 [X].
I i s ? 5, i t is clci~rlyobserved that, i n gcn-
cr;11. t c i i ~ i l clpropcrtics of l>otli l ~ ~ ~ i g i t ~ ;III~ ~ ~ l~i1~1 1i -~ ~ l l y
cloilil) or~ciitcdcomposi~csshow a re;ison;ible iigree-
mcnt u i t h ill1 tlic i i i ~ d c l sill IOW volume lr;~ction o f
lihrcs. This may he due to proper orientation of fibres
and uniforln distribution olapplied load as a rcsult o f 10
3 6 9 12
well-di\pcrscd lihrcs i n the m;ltrix at low volunic fr;lc- Fibre length Imml
tion o f the librcs.
t'ip. (1 s l i ~ w s;I c01iipiiris011of the v a r i i ~ t i (111 ~ ~tlicor-
i
ctical and cxpcrimcntal icnsile properties of randomly
oricmcd cr~mposites3 s ;I f ~ ~ ~ l c of t i olibrc
~ i length. The
inodilicd Bou'ycr and Badcr no del is used for the
calculatio~iof tensile properties. The critical length OF
the fihrc u'as found to be 6 lrnn from the carlier study I t can be seen froni Fig, h that ;I( h mlii lihrc Icnglll.
[M].tlcncc the otlicr lengths o f 2 atid 10 m m arc thcrc i s a good agi-ecmcnl ~ ~ I \ \ C C I I I I ~ c o r e t i c ~ ilild
~I
taken :IS suhcritic;~l ;ind supercritical lengths, rcspec- cxperimcntal values i n the c;~scu l tcnsilc slrc~iglll;IIIJ
tivcly. l ' h c 2. h ; ~ n d 10 m m libru composites were Young'xmod~llusv;~l~ics. ' l ' l ~ i rlc;~rly
r t~idic;~tc> U1:il i t 1
~prclx~rcti ;II 10. 211 a ~ 10 ~ vtll'X,
d librcs, 'rc~lsilc1)ropcr- crilic;~l lihrc Ic~lgtli.
c~>niporilc\ \ l t ~ , n i n i : ~ ~ i r i ipro^-
~~~il
tic5 were c;ilculatcd 11si11gE q ~ l ; ~ t i o l28 ~ s and 31. I'llc crtics.
value of K 2 it1 Equiitio~is28 i111d 31 is dilfcrent for The limitation o f the ~nodclsi ~ \ c r Iill tllis stody
dilfercnt lihre lcnpths. For 2 ;~nd 10 m m tibres, the mainly depends on dilTerc~ili;~ctors,The ch;~ncco f t h c
v;tlucs of K , wcrc c;~lculated using Equations 30 tlnd form;ition o f microvoids bct\vccn libre ; ~ n din:llrix
29, rcspcctively. L i l l t any oftlie ;~bovccqu;~lionsc.111he during the prcparatioli <,l cc,ntp<,~ilc.;grc;~llyi ~ i l l u c t ~ -
used for c;~lcul:lting K, i n thc c;tsc of 6 lnrli lihrcs. ccs 1I1c rcnhtlc properllcs. 'l'llis l';tctc~r I\ 1101 ~ ~ c c ~ ~ i t l l l ~ ' ~ l
hccause i!Iic~i 1 = l L both cquat~ons g ~ v cthe s;~mc for i n ;111y o l ihe iliodcls u.;cd in 1111sstudy. 111 ,111
\ill~cs. ~iiodclsused hcrc. 11 IS ;is.;i~~~icd tIi;~t 11ic lihrc. :ire
4266
strength. I'aramctcrs c o n c e r n i n g t h e surfilcc i r r c g u l a r -
ities o f s i s a l l i b r c a n d m i c r o v o i d s f o r m e d h e l w c c n l i b r c
a n d ~ n a t r i xa r e no1 a c c o u n l c d (or in (hi\ study.
References
l. h+. J b O L K t s . "St~oll 1:lhre K~lnrorcc<ITbi.r~~~~pl~~sciCI.'
(Rcicarch Sludiob Prcsr. Wllcy. Ncw York, 19x21.
2. K I' S l l l l l . l ~ < ) N ; ' C u n l p ~ ~ r i lI'<,l)lllcrlc
c bl;~lcri.tlr"IAppl~cd
Sclcncc. Loodcln. 1982) p. 58.
3. h K F l I.\ ixcltl N 11 L I A ( ' M I I . L . A ~ ,"Slr,>#~gS t ~ l ~ ~ l s ' '
i(.l,!uc~t'l<>~, I'ICW. Oxi~~rd l9XOl
, p. 240.
4. W III1lIS'IOM ;xild K 1) C O K N I I 11:SSIN. "I.i~Iiiic ,,l
P
]>I. . Ncw
.ihllci" ! l l ; ~ ! l r c ~
'
. Yolk. 19861 p. 143. Zt
5 . I> 11111.1. ' A n lntroduoiiun 10 C ~ > ~ n p o sM;~tev~;lls" ~lc (('o~~i-
hrldg~'U l l l l ~ l ~ lPTCSS. ly L ~ l l d ~ lIqXI).
l.
6. I1 I.. ('OX, Br. J. Appl. Pllys. 3(IY5Z1 72.
l . M K lPl(;GOl. Aciu Meiuil. I4 (1966) 1429.
8. 1' T C I I H T I S . h1 G. BAI>EK;lnd J. t . HAILEY, J. Msrer.
c y l i n d r i c a l l ! shapcd. H o w e v e r , the a c t u a l shape o f t h e Sci. 13 (1978) 377.
zis;~l lihrc 1s 1 1 0 1 pcrfcctly c y l i n d r i c i l l d u e lo surf;~cc 9. \ l . K . I'lCiCiOT. "Load Bc;lriog Plhrc Compoiiler" (I'er-
gainon I'ress. Orlord. I9Xll1 p. l(Xl.
irregul;tritics. Fig. 7 is cle;tr cvidence f o r t h i s k t c t T h e
10. Y. TCK MONIA. J. Pcilrr?i.S<, P~~iylrt. I'iii,. 32 (1'1941 96'1
n o n - u n i f o r m shape o f t h e sisal also accounts f o r t h e I t . L M 0 N E I I E . M l' ANI)I-KSONnlldC; S (;KES'LI'i,i~~r#.
d e v i a t i o n o f t h c t c n s ~ l cp r o p e r l i e s from the t l i c o r c ~ i c ; ~ l CCZ~P~IX,~ 14 lIcJ93) 101.
predictions. 12. 1; N K ,\K,lM, ,l. C ~ ~ ~' l ' c~v ~ l~? t r ~ r ~ RC,.,.
l i ~ JC"f'Rlii<
~ ~ . ~ 16 . (IV141
154
II .
5. Conclusion 14.
A c o t n p a r l s o n b c t w c c n e x p e r i m e n t a l r c s u l ~ sillid the
p r e d ~ c t i o nf r o m t h e o r y o f t h e tensile p r o p e r t i e s (tensile IS.
329.
s t r e n g t h a n d Young's m o d u l u s ) of s h o r t sisal fibre-
16. K . K. Cllr\WLh, "CUII~USICS 111 Mlilerials Sciencc and Ell-
r e i n f o r c e d l o w - d e n s i t y p o l y c t h y l e n e c o ~ n p o s i t c sh a s
ginecring" ISpringer. New York, 1987) p. 177.
been presented. T h e m o d e l s selected w c r c scrics a n d 17. H. M. S M A L L w O o D . J. Api,I. Phys. 15 119441 758.
par;lllcl. tlirsch. Halpin Ts:~i. m o d i l i c d H a l p i n Ts;ti.18. L ~t11.11. ii~ 1,
6~1 1 ~ 4zn~1
Cox, a n d m o d i l i c d B o w y e r a n d B a d c r models. T e n s i l e 19.
211.
p r o p c r t i c s of I o n g i t u d i ~ i i l lillid i . i l n d ~ m l y o r i e n ( c d
21 I. I' \ I t l SOW. .l. ~ l ~ 1'11\> ~ p l4l1'171l1.11~~1~
d :I 1111icli01i01 v o l i ~ ~ i i c
c o ~ i i ~ ~ o s i itvccs~ i . ~ p r c \ c ~ i t c;I\ l. J. IIKOII I >Ir\Niirld K I1 KKO('h. "bI~,ilelll ('L)III~I<)*IIc
22.
.
fr. ~ c t l o nof l l i c librcs. All m o d e l s were a p p l i e d in the
'
.
M ..~l~ri.tts-
, (Addison Wesluy. Ke;~dinp,MA. 19671.
system 01 I o n g ~ t i ~ i l i n a l ol yr i e n t e d compositcs, bill the 22. I . J IIIKsC11. J , A i l l . cm~. l,>$!.S91IY021427
H i r h c h a n d i i i o d i ! i c d 13o\vyur a n d Bader e q u a t i o n s 24. 1' 1uA1111Ls11 K U ~ I , \ K . K I ( i ~ o K C i l l ; ! o d S I I I O ~ I ~ \ ~ .
J. AI>JII. l'oiynr. Sci. 61 il996l 23x3
\\,ere a p p l i e d in t h c c;tsc of r i l n d o m l y o r i e n t e d c o m -
25. S GEOKGL. K 1 S 1 K 1 ' V ! \ R ~ ' l ; l l t S t .$lid S
p o s i ~ c s , A l l n i o d c l s c x c c p ~ the scrics :~nd p n r a l l e l I IIOhl AS. P,,II.,~I. 26 (1905) 4.105
model show rc:~s~n;lhlc
agrccmclit w i t h experitncntal 26. H W 1UOSI:N. 181 "t'lhrc Colnposllc M;tlcrl;ilr" (.flnerlc.lll
tcnsilc propcrtics o f longitudinally oriented com- Sucicly hi Mul;~ls.btvl;~lsI';!rk. 0 1 1 . I'J65l p. SX.
posites, especially a t l o w v o l u n i e f r a c t i o n o f t h e libre. 27. J. V . HALl'lN iilld S . W. I5Al. "L:IIYIIUIIIIIC~I~~I t , l ~ l o l h 111
Composile Materials Dcs~gn"(AFMLTK. 1967) p. 67.
Amolig the v;rrious modcls, the H i r s c h a n d m o d i f i e d
28 1. K 1.4YLK.iod R. R. J U N E , J. C~~~ripos. hliticr. 3(196914X
U u w y c r a n d l % a d c re q u a t i o n s s h o w \'cry good c o r r c l ; ~ -
29. L l:. N1til.SoN. "Mechiknbcal I'roperlicr or I'ulyrnurr itild
lion w i t h c x p c r i ~ i i c n t ; ~results.
l I l i r s c l i a n d l3owyer Cumporilcs". Vol. 2 (Mitrcul Dekkcr. Ncw York, 1'174).
+ and B a d c r m o d e l s also s l i o w good corrcl;ttion w i t h 30 L. C NIEI.SON.Rlico1. . k r a 13119741X6.
31. W. H. IIOWYEH ;incl M G MAIIEI<. J. Zlii,l.r. Sci. 7 (19721
exi1et-inlcnt;il results u f r ; t ~ i ~ l ~ i m
o rl iyc n l e d composites.
1315.
'The cli'cct o f l i b r c l e n g t h on t c l ~ s i l cp r o p e r t i e s was also
1 2 . h1 11. L ,\ l1 17.1KS K Y a814 l h1 WAll 1). (',>rt!p,!>. .S<,. l ' ~ ~ ~ l t ~ ~ ~ ~ l .
a n i ~ l y s c di n t h i s s t ~ ~ dT'hc
y . l l o w y e r a n d Uadcr m o d e l
26 (lPX61 139,
rcvc:ilcd 111;11 the c r i t i c a l I c i ~ ~ pl;iys
th :I rnitior rolc in 33. K l < l S L . l s b ~ ,S ~ l l < ~ h l AC 'S I,V A V l l l ~ R , \ N . ~ # l ~l Hl K , \ > l -
c o n t r i h u l ~ ~ rt o
g the ~ c n s i l ep r o p c r t i c s o f s h o r t l i b r c - l l i \ h l ! h l i \ l < . I . .Ij~pl.S o 47 lIY93l 1731.
reinforced p o l y m e r compusiles. All theoretical models
used i n [hi, .;111dy c1c;irly indic;tte t I i ; ~ l tcnsilc p r o p e r -
tics c i f \ I r o r l lihrc-rcinfc)rccd c c r ~ r ~ p o h i l csst r o n g l y d c -
pciid on l i h r c lcngtli. l i h r c lo;tding l i h r c dispersion.
fibre o r i c n t ; ~ l ~ oi ~ ~l ~I i bdr c i i i i ~ t iliterfitci;~l
~ i bond

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INTERNATIONAL PLASTICS ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY VOL 1.

HYBRID FIBRE REINFORCED POLYMER

G Kalaprasao and Sabu Thornas

(a) Mixed fibre tows

(b) Mixed fibre ply

This consists ol discrete layers of a rntxture of the individual fibres.

l.+eit floh incle.

Hybrid Effect in the Mechanical

C. PAWHRAN effects in carbonlcarbon and glasslcarbon hybrid combsites based on epoxy

Tmslle Young's Oongnlon

Figure 2. Stress-swain curves olmdamly wientedGRP, SRPand W i r h ~ ~ d m m p o s i t e s .

Tmslle Stmngth of Tensile Stmngth of

SRP 0.3 - 1 12.37 - 7.25 -

SRP-SIMI relnlorced pla~tlc;GRP-G18a reinforced plastic.

SRP-Sisal nlnforcsd plastic: G R P - 4 l a a reinforced plastlc.

ABSTRAm: Thls paper presents the evaluation of enhancement in the mechanical

KEY WORDS: hybrid. siral reinforced composites. glass reinforced composites.

3<1urnal of COMPOSITE MATERIALS, @/. 31, NO. 511997 509

RESClLTS AND DISCUSSION

cent study 1191 we have already. reported .

0 0 02 0.04 0.06 0.08 01

VOLUME FRACTION OF GLASS

VOLUME FRACTION OF GLASS

hancement in tensile moduli is attributed to the fractional force existing between

VOLUME FRACTION OF GLASS

Sample (9) (4) Uptake

Comparison with Theoretical Predictions 340 v-

VOLUME FRACTION OF GLASS

Theoretical modelling of tensile properties of short

r whotn all currcbponderice h b o ~ l l dbc addrcned

(X122 2461 i 1997 Ciiu/,nzutt & llull

2. Theory wlicrc !Cl,, ; ~ n dXI,,, are tlic Yoling's moduli of pilrtic-

\i,liere \ I , and ;\I,,,

where AI,. hl,,, and !\l, arc the Young's nloduli of

2.7.3. Modified Kerner equation 2.2.2. Hirsch's model

11 is givcn by Equations 16 i ~ n d17. illid ;ICC~IIII~\ fur

where )M,,,i ~ n dA l , arc ihc Young'\ ~ l m d u lof

wlicrc !.is the radius o f i l i c l i b ~ c(;,,,

According to Cox's mcidcl. lc~isilc s i r c ~ ~ g l l i7,.

p is givcn by the E q ~ i i l t i o24.

2.2.6.Modified Bowyer and Bader's model

(g an ') ,Ir~.ngll~ nlodulus at hrcak tllo11

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