• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.299-306
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• 2019

The natural fibre composites are termed as bio-composites. They have shown a promising replacement to the current carbon/glass fibre reinforced composites as environmental friendly materials in specific applications. Natural fibre reinforced composites are potential materials for various engineering applications in automobile, railways, building and Aerospace industry. The natural fibre selected to fabricate the composite material is plant-based fibre e.g., sisal fibre. Sisal fibre is a suitable reinforcement for use in composites on account of its low density, high specific strength, and high hardness. Epoxy is a thermosetting polymer which is used as a resin in natural fibre reinforced composites. Hand lay-up technique was used to fabricate the composites by reinforcing sisal fibres into the epoxy matrix. Composites were prepared with the unidirectional alignment of sisal fibres. Test specimens with different fibre orientations were prepared. The fabricated composites were tested for mechanical properties. Impact test, tensile test, flexural test, hardness test, compression test, and thermal test of composites had been conducted to assess its suitability in industrial applications. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) test revealed the microstructural information of the fractured surface of composites.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.431-444
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• 2023

This study investigated the use of latex-modified sand concrete reinforced with sisal fibers (LMSC) as a repair material. Notably, no prior research has explored the application of LMSC for this purpose. This paper examines the interface bond strength and the type of failure between LMSC as a repair material and the normal concrete (NC) substrate utilising four different surfaces: without surface preparation as a reference (SR), hand hammer (HA), sandblasted (SB), and grooved (GR). The bond strength was measured by bi-surface shear, splitting tensile, and pull-off strength tests at 7, 28, and 90 days. Scanning electron microscopy analysis was also performed to study the microstructure of the interface between the normal concrete substrate and the latex-modified sand concrete reinforced with sisal fibers. The results of this study indicate that LMSC has bonding strength with NC, especially for HR and SB surfaces with high roughness. Therefore, substrate NC surface roughness is essential in increasing the bonding strength and adhesion. Eventually, The LMSC has the potential to repair and rehabilitate concrete structures.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.87-97
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• 2013

In this paper, a novel fibrous material known as axially reinforced braided composite rods (BCRs) have been developed for reinforcement of soils. These innovative materials consist of an axial reinforcement system, comprised of longitudinally oriented core fibres, which is responsible for mechanical performance and, a braided cover, which gives a ribbed surface texture for better interfacial interactions with soils. BCRs were produced using both thermosetting (unsaturated polyester) and thermoplastic (polypropylene) matrices and synthetic (carbon, glass, HT polyethylene), as well as natural (sisal) core fibres. BCRs were characterized for tensile properties and the influence of core fibres was studied. Moreover, BCRs containing carbon fibre in the core composition were characterized for piezoresistivity and strain sensing properties under flexural deformation. According to the experimental results, the developed braided composites showed tailorable and wide range of mechanical properties, depending on the core fibres and exhibited very good strain sensing behavior.

• Composites Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.32-38
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• 2007

Natural fibers can refer to all types of fibres only produced by nature. Their lengths vary from particles to long strands. Natural fibers are categorized roughly by six types, depending on the types of sources; base, leaf, seed, grasses, fruit and wood. Of these fibers, jute, flax, sisal and ramie are the most commonly used as reinforced materials in preparing polymer composites. In development and improvement of these composites, many studies have been implemented to overcome the drawbacks such as incompatibility, moisture problems and so on. The range of industry sectors of natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites becomes more extensive gradually and many of the companies all over the world are engaged in fabrications or applications. This paper mainly discussed the recent status of the domestic/overseas market and research issues of natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites. We made an exception of wood-polymer composites market which have played a great role because they had been often dealt with.