- Title
- The development of natural fibre reinforced composites roof sheet
- Creator
- Musikwa, Mufeba
- Subject
- Textile fibers -- Research
- Subject
- Textile fabrics Textile chemistry
- Date Issued
- 2018
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MSc
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/32927
- Identifier
- vital:32398
- Description
- The study aims to develop natural fibre reinforced bio-epoxy composite for use as roof sheets, manufacturing and characterization to evaluate its suitability for building applications. In this study natural fibres such as flax and kenaf were selected to reinforce bio-epoxy matrix. Different weight ratios of flax and kenaf fibres were processed by needle-punching technique to produce nonwoven mats. The nonwoven mats and bio-epoxy matrix were prepared using vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding (VARTM) at room temperature until dry and cured. The effects of weathering and water aging on the static and dynamic mechanical properties of kenaf and flax composites were investigated. Flax fibre reinforced bio-epoxy composites were found to exhibit higher tensile strength at 25% fibre content of 41.5 MPa in comparison to the composites reinforced with kenaf fibres (33.0 MPa). With regards to the drop weight impact results, flax fibre reinforced bio-epoxy composites exhibited brittle failure. Water aging results showed that kenaf fibre reinforced bio-epoxy composites absorbed less water for all fibre contents in comparison to composites reinforced with flax fibres. The tensile strength and modulus of both the composites reinforced with flax and kenaf fibres were reduced after water aging. However, the composite reinforced with kenaf fibres showed the maximum reduction in tensile strength at 25% fibre content. After UV treatment both composites reinforced with flax and kenaf fibres showed a decrease in tensile strength of 6.25% and 30%, respectively. In comparison to kenaf, bioepoxy composites reinforced with flax fibres showed an increase in tensile modulus. Both composites reinforced with flax and kenaf fibres were found to be brittle and broke easily but no colour fading was observed after UV treatment. The dynamic mechanical analyses results showed that the incorporation of flax and kenaf fibres increases the storage modulus of the composites with the maximum storage modulus value exhibited by flax fibre reinforced bio-epoxy composite at 30% fibre content. The glass transition temperature of composites reinforced with both flax and kenaf fibres shifted to lower temperatures of 79 °C and 69 °C respectively, in comparison to 96 °C for bio-epoxy resin, with the incorporation of fibres.
- Format
- xi, 100 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Science
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
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NMU School of BioMolecular and Chemical Sciences
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | MUFEBA MUSIKWA.pdf | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |