• Advanced Composite Materials
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.197-208
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• 2009

Changes occurring in jute and coir fiber composites with 2-8% concentration of a NaOH treatment for 24 h were investigated, respectively, for void content, microscopy images, mechanical properties and water absorption. The jute and coir fibers were vacuum dried before molding composite specimens. Mechanical properties indicated good adhesion between natural fibers and PP. Jute fibers, when alkali-treated with 2% concentration for 24 h, showed best improvement in tensile strength by 40% and modulus by 9%, respectively, while coir fibers, when alkali-treated with 6% concentration for 24 h, showed best improvement in tensile strengths by 62% and modulus by 17%, respectively. With 2% concentration of alkali-treatments, the elongation of jute and coir composites reached 8% and 13.5%, respectively. Moisture absorption for jute and coir composites are 50% and 60% lower than untreated fiber composites, respectively.

• Composites Research
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.55-62
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• 2007

Interfacial evaluation and durability of Jute and Hemp fibers/polypropylene (PP) composites were investigated. Moisture content of various treated conditions were measured by thermogravimetic analyzer (TGA). After boiling water test, mechanical properties and IFSS between Jute, Hemp fibers and PP matrix decreased. On the other hand, work of adhesion increased due to swelled fibril by water. Surface energies of Jute and Hemp fibers before and after boiling water test were obtained using dynamic contact angle measurement. IFSS was not always consistent with thermodynamic work of adhesion. In boiling water case, since Jute and Hemp fibers could be swelled by water, surface area and moisture infiltration space increased. Environmental effect on microfailure modes of Jute or Hemp fibers and Jute or Hemp fibers/PP composites were obtained by observing via optical microscope and by monitoring acoustic emission (AE) events and their AE parameters. After boiling water test, unlike Hemp fiber, microfailure process of Jute fiber could occur due to low tensile strength by swelled fibril. In addition, AE events occurred more and AE amplitude and energy became lower than those of before boiling water test.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.29-35
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• 2013

The objective of the current study is to evaluate the effects depending on the types of reinforcing fibers being influential in view of mechanical properties and impact resistance of hybrid fiber reinforced concrete (HFRC) for applications to precast concrete structure. Hybrid fibers applied therefor were three types such as PP/MSF (polypropylene fiber+macro synthetic fiber), PVA/MAF (polyvinyl alcohol fiber+MSF) and JUTE/MSF (natural jute fiber+MSF), where the volume fraction of PP, PVA and natural jute was applied with 0.2 %, respectively, while based on 0.05 % volume fraction of MSF. The HFRC was tested for slump, compressive strength, flexural strength and impact resistance. The test result demonstrated that mixture of such hybrid fibers improve compressive strength, flexural strength and impact resistance of concrete. Moreover, it was found that HFRCs to which hydrophilic fibers, i.e. PVA/MSF and JUTE/MSF, were mixed show more improved features that HFRC to which non-hydrophilic fiber, i.e. PP/MSF was mixed. Meanwhile, the finding that PVA/MSF HFRC exhibited better performance than JUTE/MSF HFRC was attributed from the former having higher aspect ratio than that of the latter.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2006

Interfacial evaluation of the untreated and treated Jute and Hemp fibers reinforced different matrix polypropylene-maleic anhydride polypropylene copolymer (PP-MAPP) composites were investigated by micromechanical technique and dynamic contact angle measurement. For the statistical tensile strength of Jute and Hemp fibers, bimodal Weibull distribution was fitted better than the unimodal distribution. The acid-base parameter on the interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of the natural fiber composites was characterized by calculating the work adhesion, $W_a$. The effect of alkaline, silane coupling agent on natural fibers were obtained with changing MAPP content in PP-MAPP matrices. Alkaline treated fibers made the surface energy to be higher due to removing the weak boundary layers and thus increasing surface area, whereas surface energy of silane treated Jute and Hemp fibers decreased due to blocked high energy sites. MAPP in the PP-MAPP matrix caused the surface energy to increase due to introduced acid-base sites. Microfailure modes of two natural fiber composites were observed clearly differently due to different tensile strength of natural fibers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.111-115
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• 2005

Recently, natural fibers draw much interests in composite industry due to low cost, light weight, and environment-friendly characteristics compared with glass fibers. In this study, mechanical properties were evaluated for two extreme cases of jute fiber orientations, i.e. the unidirectional yarn composites and the felt fabric composites. Samples of jute fiber composites were fabricated by RTM process using epoxy resin, and tensile, compression, and shear tests were conducted. As can be expected, unidirectional fiber specimens in longitudinal direction showed the highest strength and modulus. Compared with glass/epoxy composites of the similar fabric architecture and fiber volume fraction, the tensile strength and modulus of jute felt/epoxy composites reached only 40% and 50% levels. However, the specific tensile strength and modulus increased to 80% and 90% of the glass/epoxy composites. The main reason for the poor mechanical properties of jute composites is associated with the weak interfacial bonding between fiber and matrix. The effect of surface treatment of jute fibers on the interfacial bonding will be examined in the future work.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.162-167
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• 2010

In the present work, the effect of electron beam irradiation on the chemical and thermal characteristics of cellulose-based jute fibers was explored by means of chemical analysis, electron spin resonance analysis, ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and thermomechanical analysis. Jute fiber bundles were uniformly irradiated in the range of 2~100 kGy by a continuous method using a conveyor cartin an electron beam tunnel. Electron beam treatment, which is a physical approach to change the surfaces, more or less changed the chemical composition of jute fibers. It was also found that the radicals on the jute fibers can be increasingly formed with increasing electron beam intensity. However, the electron beam irradiation did not change significantly the chemical functional groups existing on the jute fiber surfaces. The electron beam irradiation influenced the thermal stability and thermal shrinkage/expansion behavior and the behavior depended on the electron beam intensity.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.310-317
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• 2012

A jute fiber surface was modified with argon gas in a cylinder type RF plasma generator to enhance the interfacial bond strength and to optimize the plasma treatment condition. The plasma power, gas pressure, and treat time were varied to figure out any effect of those parameters on the morphology and mechanical strength of jute fibers, and the interfacial bond strength for a model composite with polypropylene resin. As the severity of plasma treatment was increased, the surface of jute fibers became rougher. Gas pressure was less effective in roughening of the surface compared with those of treat time and plasma power. Approximately 25% drop in tensile strength of jute fibers was observed for the parameters of treat time and plasma power, while little deterioration was found for gas pressure, with increasing the severity. Based on the interfacial shear strength (IFSS), the optimum plasma treatment condition was determined to be treat time of 30 s, plasma power of 40 W, and gas pressure of 30 mTorr.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.28-37
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• 2019

Due to their flexible tailoring qualities, composites have become fascinating materials for structural engineers. While the research area of fiber-reinforced composite materials was previously limited to synthetic materials, natural fibers have recently become the primary research focus as the best alternative to artificial fibers. The natural fibers are eco-friendly and relatively cheaper than synthetic fibers. The main concern of current research into natural fiber-reinforced composites is the prediction and enhancement of the effective material properties. In the present work, finite element analysis is used with a numerical homogenization approach to determine the effective material properties of jute fiber-reinforced epoxy composites with various volume fractions of fiber. The finite element analysis results for the jute fiber-reinforced epoxy composite are then compared with several well-known analytical models.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.531-539
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• 2013

An experimental investigation of mechanical properties of jute fiber-reinforced concrete (JFRC) has been reported for making a suitable construction material in terms of fiber reinforcement. Two jute fiber reinforced concretes, called jute fiber reinforced normal strength concrete (JFRNSC) and jute fiber-reinforced high-fluidity concrete (JFRHFC), were tested in compression, flexure and splitting tension. Compressive, flexural and splitting tensile strengths of specimens were investigated to four levels of jute fiber contents by volume fraction. From the test results, Jute fiber can be successfully used for normal strength concrete (NSC) and high-fluidity concrete (HFC). Particularly, HFC with jute fibers shows relatively higher improvement of strength property than that of normal strength concrete.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.204-210
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• 2011

In this study, Jute fibers reinforced polypropylene (JFRP) composites were manufactured by injection molding technique. In order to improve the affinity and adhesion between fibers and thermoplastic matrices during manufacturing, Maleic anhydride (MA) as a coupling agent have been employed. Untreated and treated surfaces of jute fibers were characterized using SEM and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). Physical properties like water absorption rate were studied. Tensile and flexural tests were carried out to evaluate the composite mechanical properties. Tensile test and bending test indicated that JFRP composites show higher strength and modulus than pure PP. In addition, strength and modulus were found to be influenced by the variation of MAPP content (1%, 2%, and 3%). Tensile fracture surfaces were examined using scanning electron microscope. It ensures better interfacial adhesion between fibers and matrix by increasing the percentage of MAPP.