ABSTRACT

Alkali treatment of natural fibers will improve the mechanical, chemical, and thermal characteristics of natural fiber reinforced epoxy composites. The influence of alkali treatment on the improvement of mechanical strength of natural fiber reinforced epoxy composites depends on the selection of process parameters of the treatment. In this work, the optimization of four key process parameters for alkali treatment of kenaf fiber has been studied using orthogonal array-oriented fractional factorial experimental design. The concentration of sodium hydroxide solution, process temperature, time, and fiber to solution weight ratio were the four chosen parameters and the tensile strength of the composite sample fabricated with treated kenaf fiber and epoxy resin was taken as output response. The hand layup method was used to fabricate the composite materials, and specimens were prepared for the tensile test. All samples were fabricated by ensuring the fiber weight ratio of 40%. Five samples were prepared at each experiment category, and mean values were taken for analysis. The results revealed that 6% NaOH solution, 30°C process temperature, 8 hours process time, and 1:15 fiber to solution weight ratio are identified as optimum process parameters for a tensile strength of 58.16 MPa.

摘要

天然纤维的碱处理将改善天然纤维增强环氧树脂复合材料的机械、化学和热特性。碱处理对提高天然纤维增强环氧复合材料机械强度的影响取决于处理工艺参数的选择。在这项工作中，使用正交阵列取向的部分因子实验设计研究了红麻纤维碱处理四个关键工艺参数的优化。氢氧化钠溶液的浓度、工艺温度、时间和纤维与溶液的重量比是四个选择的参数，用处理过的红麻纤维和环氧树脂制成的复合材料样品的拉伸强度作为输出响应。采用手糊法制备复合材料，并制备试样进行拉伸试验。所有样品均通过确保纤维重量比为 40% 来制造。每个实验类别制备五个样品，取平均值进行分析。结果表明，6% NaOH 溶液、30°C 工艺温度、8 小时工艺时间和 1:15 的纤维与溶液重量比被确定为拉伸强度为 58.16 MPa 的最佳工艺参数。