Pusat Pengajian Kejuruteraan Aeroangkasa - Tesis

Browse

Browsing Pusat Pengajian Kejuruteraan Aeroangkasa - Tesis by Author "Amjad, Adnan"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Effect of alumina and magnesia nanofillers on mechanical and water absorption properties of surface treated flax/pla and jute reinforced epoxy composites
    (2022-06-01)
    Amjad, Adnan
    Natural fibre-based materials are gaining popularity in the composites industry, particularly for aerospace, defence, construction, automobile structural and semi-structural applications. Continuous natural fibre composite materials not only offer low weight and better strength but are also biodegradable and eco-friendly. Natural fibres are a valuable and robust replacement for synthetic fibres, but the incompatibility between natural fibre and polymer matrices and the higher moisture absorption percentage of natural fibre limits their applications. To overcome these flaws, surface treatment of natural fibre and nanofiller addition have become some of the most important aspects of improving the performance of continuous natural fibre composite. In this research work, a comparative performance evaluation was conducted to investigate the effect of Al2O3 and MgO nanofillers on the alkali-treated and untreated flax/PLA and jute fibre reinforced epoxy laminates fabricated by vacuum bagging technique. The 5% NaOH solution was used to treat the flax/PLA and jute woven fabric and Al2O3 and MgO nanofillers were mixed with epoxy in a concentration from 1%wt - 4%wt. The developed laminates were evaluated based on mechanical and water absorption properties. The results show that the treated flax/PLA and jute fibre reinforced laminates display higher mechanical properties than the untreated fibre. In flax/PLA laminates, the treated flax/PLA reinforced MgO filled laminates increase the tensile strength by 56%, impact strength by 28% and interlaminar shear strength by 150%, while the treated flax/PLA reinforced Al2O3 filled laminates increases the flexural strength by 290% and compressive strength by 460% as compared to laminates without nanofillers. In jute laminates, the treated jute reinforced MgO filled laminates increase the tensile strength by 60%, flexural strengthby 67%, impact strength by 42%, compressive strength by 130%, while the treated jute reinforced Al2O3 filled laminates increase interlaminar shear strength by 62% as compared to laminates without nanofillers. The mechanical properties of the composites increase with the addition of both nanofillers up to 3 wt.%. Fibre surface treatment and nanofillers also affected the water absorption behaviour of flax/PLA and jute composite. Untreated reinforced composite absorbed more water than treated. The treated flax/PLA and jute reinforced MgO filled laminates exhibit the lowest water absorption at 4 wt. % of MgO, the treated flax/PLA is 72.4%, and the treated jute is 74.4 % less absorbent than the unfilled composite. Hence, the inclusion of nanofillers and the fibre surface treatment have improved the laminates' mechanical and water absorption properties.