Study on Woven Bamboo Fiber Mat Reinforced Polypropylene Composite

Abstract

The aim of this study was to understand the effects on the mechanical properties of bamboo fiber mat (BM) reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites by different types of bamboo fiber mat and alkali treatment The bamboo fiber mat was constructed manually by hand The BM/PP composites were fabricated by thermoforming process The basic characteristics of the bamboo strips such as density cross section and tensile properties were measured first The strength of the bamboo strip was tested and it was around 400MPa after 5wt% alkali treatment The alkali treated BM/PP composite had better tensile strength than untreated BM/PP composite The alkali treated twill BM/PP composites has 2 times strength and modulus than alkali treated plain BM/PP composites in longitudinal orientation while the strength is not much difference in the transverse direction For the hygrothermal aging test the composites had been highly sensitive to moisture which could degrade the composites mechanical properties In the bamboo fiber mat preforming process moisture can enhance the plasticity of the bamboo mat and prevent bamboo fiber mat form spring back after forming The preforming results implied that the woven bamboo fiber mat has the potential to form a bamboo fiber preform with complex geometry

Date of Award	2020
Original language	English
Supervisor	Wen-Bin Young (Supervisor)