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Characterization of mechanical extracted Alfa fibres

Article · January 2014

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International Journal of Fiber and Textile Research

Universal Research Publications. All rights reserved

ISSN 2277-7156
Original Article
Characterization of mechanical extracted alfa fibres
J. Mounir, W. Béchir M. Slah and B. Mohamed
Laboratry of Textile Engineering of ISET Ksar-Hellal, Tunisia
[email protected]
Received 02 January 2014; accepted 14 January 2014
Abstract
This paper deals with the physical and mechanical characterization of thefibers extracted from the alfa (stipatenacissima
L.) separeted with mechanical process using shirley analyser device. The physical properties are: moisture rate, rate of
cellulose, fiber density and diameter distribution. The mechanical ones are: ultimate tensile strength, stress at break and
strain at break. The obtained measured properties are compared to other vegetable fibre like coir, cotton, jute and hemp.
The distribution of the apparent diameter of the technical fibres of alfais similar to the theoretical distribution of Gumbel.
These results permitted to situate these fibres, compared to other textile fibres, as a materials that can be used in technical
applications such as reinforcing composites, nonwovens, or geotextiles.
© 2013 Universal Research Publications. All rights reserved
Keywords: alfa fibres, mechanical separation, physical and mechanical properties

Introduction were extracted from the plant (Fig.1), then attacked

Alfa is the Arabic nomination of Stipatenacissima L. chemically by a solution of (NaOH) and bleached in a
It is a plant original of the arid regions of North Africa. It is (NaOCL) solution.
constituted of sticks with length until 120 cm (M. Ben 1. Mechanical separation of alfafibres
Abderrahman, 2006). These fibres are mostly used in the The machine used in the separation of fibres is a Shirley
production of height quality paper. Recently, they have Analyser (Fig. 2) that was located in the Laboratory of
been used as reinforcement in the production of ISET-KH (High Institute of technological Studies in Ksar-
environmentally friendly composites (A.R. Hellal, Tunisia). Machinesettings are indicated below:
Campos2002;A.R. Campos, 2004) because it has several Speeds:
advantages as a vegetal fiber: renewable, law density and − Engine speed 1380 revolutions/min
law cost of transformation.But a handicaps presents itself to − Feedroller speed 0.9 revolution/min
the level of use of the technical fibres of Esparto, it is that − Taker-in speed 700 revolutions/min
− Perforated take-off speed 300 revolutions/min
the separation of these fibres cannot make itself than by
− Fan speed 1500 revolutions/min
hands. Indeed, the recent works carried on the application
Settings :
of the technical fibres of esparto, have been used by hand − From feed roller to taker-in 0.7 mm
of the detached fibres of esparto (L. Ghali, 2005; M. C. − From separating edge to taker-in 0.19 mm
Paiva, 2007).
The goal of this article is, in the first time, to propose a new
method for separation of fibres of esparto and in the second
time the understanding of the mechanical, physical and
chemical properties of esparto fibres mechanically
extracted. These results permitted to situate these fibres,
compared to the other textilefibres, as materials that can be
used in technical applications such as reinforcing
composites orgeotextile.
METHODS AND MATERIALS
The samples of the alfa fibres are obtained from the
LRBBO (Biomechanical and Biomaterial Laboratory of
Research of the Orthopedic Institute), where these fibres Fig.1. Plant of Alfafibers
International Journal of Fiber and Textile Research 2014; 4(1): 1-4
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 filled of CCl4 (g).
-ρCCl4 is a density of CCl4 = 1,59.
5. Rate of recovery
The rate of recovery is defined, according to the standard
NF G 08-001 as being the quantity of water which 100
grams of dry matter under climatic conditions good can
absorb given (65±2% relative humidity and 20±2C).The
calculation of the rate of recovery is carried out according
to the following relation:
M h Ms
R% =100
Ms
R% is a rate of recovery, Mh is a mass wet mass and Ms is a
mass dries.
6. Rate of cellulose
Fig.2. Shirley Analyser machine
The cellulose rate is given according to standard ASTM D
These fibres of alfa were conditioned for several days at 3516, while passing by the measurement of the ash content
20°C ± 2 °C and 65 % RH ± 2% according to the standard after heating at 575 ± 25 C of fibres. The cellulose rate is
NF G 00 003.The leaf of esparto attacked chemically calculated by the following relation:
presents itself under cylindrical shape (M. C. Paiva, 2007),
it is formed by cellulosic fibers aligned all along the leaf
that nearly has a length 120 cm and join between them by a
tc is a cellulose rate, B is a mass of the platinum (g)
cement of lignin. The principle of the separation consists to crucible, C is a mass of the platinum crucible with ashes
placed alfa fibres on the table of alimentation; it is driven (g) and K is a mass of the platinum crucible with the dried
by the feed roller toward the taker-in whose surface is cellulose sample (g).
garnished of teeth of saws. The streamer plate regularizes
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
draft produces by the rotation of the fan. The alfa fibres
1. Physical properties
extracted by the taker-in projected by the centrifugal force,
When one makes pass the fibres of alfa in the Shirley
the relatively big fibres fall in the trash tray whereas the Analyser, the action aggressive of the sprocket of saws of
fine fibres are driven by draft toward the perforate roller. the breaker separates the technical fibres. Indeed, the
2. Single fibre tensile tests strength of extortion provoked by the teeth of saws is more
The mechanical properties of simple fibers quality
important than force generated by the existence of the
controlled by using a dynamometer with constant gradient
lignin and that binds the fibres the some to the other (Fig.3.
rate of 100 mm/min in accordance with the standard ISO
(a) and (b)).The ultimate fibres are present as perfectly
5079.The tensile testing machine used for our tests is a oriented structure in length. This result confirms the works
machine of the type LLOYD Instrument. The capacity of of Win Thielemans (W. Thielemans, 2004). Who showed
the load cell is 100N.
that the hard fibres present themselves in bundles of
3.Fineness measurement ultimate fibres bound between them by gummy and waxy
The measurement of the fineness of alfafibers, by
substances.
projection microscope (by 200 times). The measurement of
the fineness of alfa fibres is given by measuring the
apparent diameter of fibres. The test is carried out on 300
fibres chosen at random.
4. Density measurement
For the measurement of the density of technical fibres of
alfa we used the method of pycnometer relative to standard
NF T 20 053.For that, we used a pycnometer of Gay-
Lussac. CCl4 was used as a reference liquid at 23 °C.The
principle of the method consists in weighing with a balance Fig. 3. Structure of alfa fibre:
of precision a quantity of fibre.To weigh the pycnometer (a) after mechanical separation, (b) before mechanical
filled by CCl4 to the feature of gauge.Finally to introduce separation
into the pycnometer the mass fibres to add CCl4 and to The alfa fibres that have undergone a mechanical extraction
weigh the unit.The density of fibres in g/cm3 is expressed by Shirley Analyser have a density of 1.28 with a
by the following relation: coefficient of variation 15%, it is a less dense fiber than the
Mf Mf extracted by hand fiber that has a density of 1.4 (M. C.
fibres CCl4
Vf Mf Ml - Mt Paiva, 2007). But that remained always lower to the density
With: of the glass fibre (2.55) (Paul Wambua, 2007). Hence,
- Vf is a volume of the fibres (cm3), these fibres could beused as reinforcement for making
- Ml is mass pycnometer filled of CCl4 (g), composites with anadded advantage of being light
- Mf ismass fibres (g) weight.The fibre of alfa, as cellulosic fibres, has an
- Mt is a mass pycnometer containing fibres and absorbent character that defines itself by their power of

International Journal of Fiber and Textile Research 2014; 4(1): 1-4

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humidity absorption. This character is valued by the break) reveals a great dispersion of the obtained results,
measure of rate of recovery that is equal to 10%. Alfa has especially in the case of the stress at break. This dispersion
an important rate of cellulose equal to 92%. is demonstrated by the height value for CV %, as shown in
In general, the fineness (diameter) of textile fibre is one of Table2.Fig.5. give an example of curve stress-strain for a
its most important characteristics from the viewpoint of technical alfa fibre.
price and textile application and performance. So we have
measured the fibres diameter to provide data for
comparison with other fibres.
The measurement of the fineness of alfa fibres, by
projection microscope (200 faiths) shows a great
distribution of the projected diameter with an average value
of 138.28 μmand a coefficient of variation of35.83 %, this
value of the diameter is Americana L. that is 130μm (S.
Msahli, 2005) and technical fibres of kenaf is 150μm
(R.Zah et al, 2006).The distribution of the apparent
diameter of the technical fibres of alfa (Fig.4.) is similar to
the theoretical distribution of Gumbel that the one of the
normal law (Table.1.), after have make Chi-Square Test.

Fig.5. Example of curve Stress-Strain of the alfa fibre

The most important parameters studied in atensile
mechanical test are the maximal force, the stress at break
and the strain at break. These parameters can be considered
to characterise the mechanical behaviors of the fibre.
The tensile tests of the alfa fibre showed that the initial part
of the stress-strain curvewas not linear, butslowly
increasing, its slope before finally becoming linear.
Fig. 4. Diameter distribution of alfa fibres Compared to other textile fibres (Table.3.), the fibres of
alfa have mechanical properties near of the other textile
Table. 1. Adjustment tests of the theoretical laws fibres.
Theoretical law χ² Table.3. Example of mechanical properties of natural fibres (Paul
Normal Law 48 Wambua, 2003)
Gumbel Law 44,36 Properties Alfa Coir Cotton Jute Hemp
Ultimate tensile strength (cN) 856 - - - -
Stress at break (MPa) 237 220 400 400-800 550-900
The diameter of the technical fibres of alfa separated by the Strain at break (%) 15 15-25 03-10 1.8 1.6
Shirley Analyser is very variable. This large distribution of
the diameter is due to the fact that it is a vegetable fiber CONCLUSION
where the morphological properties of the fibres are too The characterization of an industrial sample of fibres
varying. extracted from the most abundant variety of alfa in Tunisia,
stipatenacissima L., permitted us to find relatively high
Table.2. Tensile properties of alfa fibre mechanical properties compared to other textile fibres.
Mean Indeed, the stress and strain at break are 237 MPa and 15%
Property CV (%)
value respectively, these values are relatively high compared to
Ultimate tensile strength (cN) 856 32 the specific resistance of the fibres belonging to the same
Stress at break (MPa) 237 65 class. The low density of alfa fibre (1.28 g/cm3) is an
Strain at break (%) 15 21 important characteristic. It allows using it in some technical
applications (composite materials for example), the ratio
The variation is off to the several parameters:the age of the resistance / density is an interested parameter. Finally,
alfa plant, the date of the harvest, the emplacement of the compared to some other cellulosic fibres, alfa has an
fiber in the leaf, etc. important rate of cellulose equal to 92%.
2. Mechanical properties REFERENCES
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Source of support: Nil; Conflict of interest: None declared

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