International Journal of Advances in Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No.

3, 2011

Evolution of Experimental study on Bamboo based FRP composites

N.ABILASH1 and M.SIVAPRAGASH2
1

Faculty, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Noorul Islam University, Thuckalay-629180, Tamilnadu, India [email protected] Faculty, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Noorul Islam University, Thuckalay-629180, Tamilnadu, India [email protected]

Abstract
Recently, immense interest was paid to new technologies dealing with environmental aspect. Perpetuation of natural resources such as natural fiber reinforced polymeric composite leads the upcoming manufacturing industry to search and scrutinize ecofriendly materials. In this paper an experimental study has been conducted to determine how moisture content in the natural fiber affects the material performance, its durability etc by considering these facts the various chemical treatments to enhance the properties of bamboo fibers are discussed. From this research it is very clear that by adding rice husk at appropriate level which shows considerable rise in performance thereby reducing the delaminating behavior between the layers by enhancing the bonding between the treated natural bamboo fiber and the polymeric matrix. Keywords: Natural fibers, Frp, Composites, Moisture percentage, rice husk, delamination.

1. Introduction
The growing environmental awareness and present energy crisis provoked by indiscriminate industrial growth and depletion of petroleum resources has caused increasing concerns about managing the energy resources available and about environmental degradation. There is an intense on-going search for non-polluting materials and manufacturing processes, which require very minimum energy. Attention of researchers and new environmental regulations have together triggered the search for new products such as vegetable fibers including bamboo. The progress of new generation materials is no exception to this new paradigm. In fact, most manufacturers have plans to make their products green or recyclable changing from monolithic materials to fiber-reinforced polymeric materials. Lot of Attempts has been made to use natural fiber composites in place of glass fibers in so many applications. Nowadays automotive components which are previously made with glass fiber composites are now being manufactured using environmental friendly composites. Currently, plenty of innovations in material research paved the way to use the potential of cellulose based fibers as reinforcement for plastics. All researchers who have worked in the area of natural fibers and their composites are agreed that these renewable materials have several bottlenecks like poor wettability, incompatibility with some polymeric matrices and high moisture absorption by the fibers [1]. The most important problem in polymeric composite is the fiber matrix adhesion. The role of the matrix in a fiber reinforced composite is to transfer the load to the stiff fibers through shear stresses at the interface. Hence this process requires a good bond between the polymeric matrix and the fibers. Poor adhesion at the interface means that the full capabilities of the composite cannot be exploited and leaves it vulnerable to environmental attacks that may weaken it, thus reducing its life span. Insufficient adhesion between hydrophobic polymers and hydrophilic fibers result in poor mechanical properties, it is very clear that only fibers with good surface roughness to an acceptable range or by chemical modification can enrich the bonding capability. The utilization of natural fiber has gained attentions due to the reduction of waste disposal problems especially in agricultural fields, environmental pollution and hence can find various applications in engineering, electronic and automotive fields (Goda et al., 2006) [2]. Green composites are environmentally friendly, sustainable, renewable, and biodegradable. Most cellulosic fibers are

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International Journal of Advances in Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No.3, 2011 harvested yearly and the supply should be inexhaustible compared to the limited supply of other synthetic fibers. Natural fiber reinforced polymers also have exhibited numerous advantages such as high mechanical properties, low weight, low cost, low density, high specific properties (Manfredi et al., 2006) [2], posses better electrical resistance, good thermal and acoustic insulating properties and higher resistance to fracture. Additionally, the natural fibers reinforced composites can decrease wearing of machines due to its low abrasiveness and absence of health hazardness during processing, application and upon disposal.

2. Fibers and its types

Fibers are hair-like materials that are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to pieces of thread. They can be spun into thread. They can be used as an important component of composite materials. Fiber can be classified into two main groups; they are man-made fiber and natural fiber. In general, natural fibers can be subdivided as to their origin such as plants, animals, or minerals; while man-made fibers can be subdivided to synthetic and natural polymers. The first fibers used by man were natural fibers such as cotton, wool, silk, flax, hemp and sisal. The first man-made fiber was probably glass (Cooke, 1989) [2]. Both natural and synthetic fibers are now available and always being used as fillers in making a good properties of composites. In the last decade, there is a growing interest in Natural fiber reinforced composites because of their high performance in terms of mechanical properties, significant processing advantages, chemical resistance, and low cost/low density ratio. Natural fiber represent environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional reinforcing fibers. The main reward of Natural fiber over traditional ones are low cost, high toughness, low density, good specific strength properties, reduced tool wear, enhanced energy recovery, CO2 neutral when burned, biodegradability. Because of their hollow and cellular nature, Natural fiber performs as acoustic and thermal insulators, and exhibit reduced bulk density. Lignocellulosic fibers can be classified in three categories: (1) wood flour particulate, which increases the tensile and flexural modulus of the composites, (2) fibers of higher aspect ratio that contribute to improve the composites modulus and strength when suitable additives are used to regulate the stress transfer between the matrix and the fibers, (3) long Natural fibers with highest efficiency among the lignocellulosic reinforcements. The most efficient Natural fibers have been considered those that have high cellulose content coupled with a low micro fibril angle, resulting in high filament mechanical properties. Depending on their origin, the major classifications of fibers used nowadays are given in Fig 1.

3. Classification of Fibers
Fibers

Natural

Man made

Vegetable Non-Wood

Animal

Mineral

Natural Polymer

Synthetics

Wood (Soft & Hard)

Cellulose

Organic

Straw Fibers (Corn, Wheat, Rice straw) Bast (Jute, Kenaf, Flax, Hemp) Leaf (Pineapple, Sisal, Henequen) Seed/Fruit (Cotton, Coir)

Protein

Inorganic

Rubber

Grass (Bamboo)

Fig.1 (Fiber Classification)

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International Journal of Advances in Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No.3, 2011 Though even glass fibers have considerable advantages, the property of biodegradation in Natural fibers uplifts the usage of Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymeric materials in our daily life. Also, this fiber which doesnt possess any abrasion or emission of toxic gases and the recyclability proves why modern industries and researchers focused their attention in to NFRP composites.Table.1 shows the comparison of Natural and synthetic glass fibers.

4. Comparison between Natural and Glass fibers

Parameters Density Cost Renewability Recyclability Energy Consumption Distribution CO2 Neutral Abrasion to machines Health risk Disposal Natural Fibers Low Low Yes Yes Low Wide Yes No No Biodegradable Table: 1 Synthetic Glass Fibers Twice that of Natural Low No No High Wide No Yes Yes Not biodegradable

5. Definition of Natural fiber

The meanings of the word Natural fibers are produced through agriculture (Schuster et al., 2004) [2]. Natural fibers are composite material designed by nature. The fibers are basically rigid, crystalline cellulose microfibril-reinforced amorphous lignin and hemicelluloses matrix. Most plant fibers, except for cotton, are composed of cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, waxes and some water-soluble compounds, where cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin are the major constituents. From structural point of view, natural fibers are multicellular in nature, consisting of a number of continuous, mostly cylindrical honeycomb cells which have different sizes, shapes and arrangements for different types of fibers (Dipa and Jogeswari, 2005). These cells are cemented together by an intercellular substance which is isotropic, noncellulosic and ligneous in nature, with a cavity termed the lacuna, whose position and dimensions differ in composition and orientation of cellulosic microfibrils. There is a central cavity in each cell called the lumen (Dipa and Jogeswari, 2005). The microfibrils in the central walls form a constant angle (microfibrillar or helical angle) for each type of fiber with the fiber axis, so that the crystallites are arranged in a spiral form, the pitch of which varies from one fiber to another. Thus, each fiber is a natural composite by itself, wherein crystallites (mostly cellulosic) remain rooted in a matrix in a given orientation. Hence the properties of the single fibers depend on the crystallite content, their sizes, shape, orientation, length/diameter (L/D) ratio of cells, thickness of cell walls, and finally, their defects such as lumen and lacuna. Dipa and Jogeswari (2005) summarized that the most important factor controlling the different types of natural fibers is their species because the properties of fibers are different between different species. In addition, the properties of fibers within a

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International Journal of Advances in Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No.3, 2011 species vary depending on area of growth, climate and age of the plant. Lastly, the properties of natural fibers vary greatly depending on their processing method used to break down to the fiber level. Natural fibers present important advantages such as low density, appropriate stiffness and mechanical properties and high disposability and renewability. Moreover, they are recyclable and biodegradable. Over the last decade, composites of polymers reinforced by natural fibers have received increased attention. Natural fibers such as sisal, flax, jute and wood-fibers possess good reinforcing capability when properly compounded with polymers. One of the unique aspects of designing parts with fiber reinforced composite materials is that the mechanical properties of the material can be tailored to fit a certain application. By changing the orientation or placement of the fibers the material can be designed to exhibit properties that are isotropic or highly anisotropic depending on the desired end result.

6. Classification of Natural Fibers

Fibers are continuous filaments or discrete elongated pieces, similar to pieces of thread. They can be spun into filaments, thread, or rope. They can be used as a component of composites materials. They can also be matted into sheets to make products such as paper or felt. Fibers are of two types they are natural fiber and man made or synthetic fiber. Natural fibers include those made from plant, animal and mineral sources. Natural fibers can be broadly classified according to their origin as. Mineral fiber 6.1. Animal Fiber Animal fiber generally comprise proteins; E.g. mohair, wool, silk, alpaca, angora. Animal hair (wool or hair): Fiber taken from animals or hairy mammals. E.g. Sheep wool, goat hair (cashmere, mohair), alpaca hair, horse hair, etc. Silk fiber: Fiber collected from dried saliva of bugs or insects during the preparation of cocoons. Examples include silk from silk worms. Avian fiber: Fibers from birds, e.g. feathers and feather fiber. 6.2. Mineral fiber Mineral fibers are naturally occurring fiber or slightly modified fiber procured from minerals. These can be categorized into the following categories: Asbestos: The only naturally occurring mineral fiber Varieties are serpentine and amphiboles, anthophyllite. Ceramic fibers: Glass fibers (Glass wood and Quartz), aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, and boron carbide. Metal fibers: Aluminum fibers 6.3. Plant fiber Plant fibers are generally comprised mainly of cellulose: examples include cotton, jute, flax, ramie, sisal and hemp. Cellulosic fibers serve in the manufacture of paper and cloth. This fiber can be further categorizes into following. Seed fiber: Fibers collected from the seed and seed case e.g. cotton and kapok. Leaf fiber: Fibers collected from the leaves e.g. sisal and agave. Sisal Sisal is valued for cordage use because of its strength, durability, ability to stretch, affinity for certain dyestuffs, and resistance to deterioration in saltwater. Sisal is used by industry in three grades. The lower grade fiber is processed by the paper industry because of its high content of cellulose and hemicelluloses. The medium grade fiber is used in the cordage industry for making ropes, baler and binders twine. Ropes and twines are widely employed for marine, agricultural, and general industrial use. The higher-grade fiber after treatment is converted into yarns and used by the carpet industry. Uses of Sisal: products made from sisal are being developed rapidly, such as furniture and wall tiles made of resonated sisal. a recent development expanded the range even to car parts for cabin interiors.

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International Journal of Advances in Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No.3, 2011 Other products developed from sisal fiber include spa products, cat scratching posts, lumbar support belts, rugs, slippers, cloths and disc buffers. Apart from ropes, twines and general cordage sisal is used in low-cost and specialty paper, dartboards, buffing cloth, filters, geotextiles, mattresses, carpets, handicrafts, wire rope cores. In recent years sisal has been utilized as a strengthening agent to replace asbestos and fiberglass as well as an environmentally friendly component in the automobile industry. Skin fiber: Fibers are collected from the skin or bast surrounding the stem of their respective plant. These fibers have higher tensile strength than other fibers. Therefore, these fibers are used for durable yarn, fabric, packaging, and paper. Some examples are flax, jute, banana, hemp, and soybean. Roselle The Roselle (hibiscus sabdariffa) is a species of hibiscus native to the old world tropics. It is an annual or perennial herb or woody-based sub shrub, growing to 22.5 meter tall. The leaves are deeply threeto five-lobed, 815 cm long, arranged alternately on the stems. The flowers are 810 cm in diameter, white to pale yellow with a dark red spot at the base of each petal, and have a stout fleshy calyx at the base, 1.52 cm wide, enlarging to 33.5 cm, fleshy and bright red as the fruit matures. It is an annual plant, and takes about six months to mature. Roselle is native from India to Malaysia, where it is commonly cultivated, and must have been carried at an early date to Africa. It has been widely distributed in the tropics and subtropics of both hemispheres, and in many areas of the West Indies and Central America has become naturalized. Uses of Roselle: The seeds are considered excellent feed for chickens. The residue after oil extraction is valued as cattle feed when available in quantity. Nutritionists have found Roselle calyces as sold in Central American markets to be high in calcium, niacin, riboflavin and iron. Banana Fiber Banana fiber, a lingo-cellulosic fiber, obtained from the pseudo-stem of banana plant (musa sepientum), is a bast fiber with relatively good mechanical properties. The pseudo-stem is a clustered, cylindrical aggregation of leaf stalk bases. Banana fiber at present is a waste product of banana cultivation and either not properly utilized or partially done so. The extraction of fiber from the pseudo stem is not a common practice and much of the stem is not used for production of fibers. The buyers for banana fibers are erratic and there is no systematic way to extract the fibers regularly. Uses of Banana and Plantain: Banana leaves, pseudo stems, fruit stalks and peels can all be used for various culinary purposes. Bananas are primarily eaten as a fruit, either on its own or as a part of a salad. All parts of the banana have medicinal applications as well. The natural fibers can be used to reinforce both thermosetting and thermoplastic matrices. Thermosetting resins, such as epoxy, polyester, polyurethane, phenolic, etc. are commonly used today in natural fiber composites, in which composites requiring higher performance applications. They provide sufficient mechanical properties, in particular stiffness and strength, at acceptably low price levels. Considering the ecological aspects of material selection, replacing synthetic fibers by natural ones is only a first step. Restricting the emission of green house effect causing gases such as CO 2 into the atmosphere and an increasing awareness of the finiteness of fossil energy resources are leading to developing new materials that are entirely based on renewable resources. Fruit fiber: Fibers are collected from the fruit of the plant, e.g. coconut (coir) fiber. Stalk fiber: Fibers are actually the stalks of the plant. E.g. straws of wheat, rice, barley, and other crops including bamboo and grass. Tree wood is also such a fiber.

7. Alignment of fibers in composites

Reinforcement using fibers in a single-layer composite may be short or long compared to its overall dimensions. The long fibers and short fibers are called continuous fibers and discontinuous fibers, respectively (Agarwal and Broutman, 1990). The continuous fibers in a single-layer composite may be all aligned in one direction to form a unidirectional composite. The unidirectional composites are very strong in the fiber direction but are generally weak in the direction perpendicular to the fibers. The continuous reinforcement in a single layer may also be provided in a second direction to provide more balanced properties. The bidirectional reinforcement may be provided in a single layer in mutually perpendicular directions as in a woven fabric. The orientation of short or discontinuous fibers cannot

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International Journal of Advances in Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No.3, 2011 be easily controlled in a composite material. In most cases the fibers are assumed to be randomly oriented in the composite. Alternatively, short fibers, sometimes referred to as chopped fiber may be converted to a lightly bonded perform or mat that can be later impregnated with resin to fabricate single-layer composites. Chopped fibers may also be blended with resins to make a reinforced molding compound. These fibers tend to become oriented parallel to the direction of material flow during a compression molding operation and thus get a preferential orientation. Figure 2 represents the classification of layer alignments.

Alignment of layer

Continuous

Discontinuous

Uni-directional reinforcement of fibers

Bidirectional/Woven reinforcement of fibers

Randomly oriented

Preferred Orientation

Fig.2 (Layer alignment classification)

8. Treatment on Natural Fibers

Natural fibers, hydrophilic in nature, exhibit poor compatibility with resins which are hydrophobic. Low interfacial shear strength of natural fibers and resins reduce the overall strength and thus limits the potential of natural fibers as reinforcing agents. This problem is highlighted in most of the researchers that interested in natural fiber reinforced polymer field. Treatment on natural fibers is essential to improve the interfacial shear strength of both natural fibers and resins. Generally, the treatment can be grouped into physical treatment and chemical treatment. Physical treatment involves surface fibrillation, electric discharge and etc. This method intends to change structural and surface of the fiber and thereby influences the mechanical bonding with resins. While, chemical treatments involves modification of hydroxyl groups and introduce new ions that can effectively interlock the matrix. To limit the discussion, chemical treatments are considered here whereby this treatment is easy to apply and low technology is used. Until recently, there are numerous reports related to chemical treatments on different types of fibers. The chemical treatments that have been tried and tested are alkaline treatment, silane treatment, acetylation treatment, benzolation treatment, arcylation and arcylonatrile grafting, maleated coupling agents, permanganate treatment, peroxide treatment, isocyanate treatment, stearic treatment and etc. Not all the chemical treatments show positive effects, instead some reports indicate that the treatments are inert or show little improvements. Despite improvement of interfacial shear strength, chemical treatments may enhance also the thermal properties, moisture absorption properties, biodegradation properties.

9. Natural Fiber Reinforced Composites

The interest in natural fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials is rapidly growing both in terms of their industrial applications and fundamental research. They are renewable, cheap, completely or partially recyclable, and biodegradable. Plants, such as flax, cotton, hemp, jute, sisal, kenaf, pineapple, ramie, bamboo, banana, etc., as well as wood, used from time immemorial as a source of lignocellulosic fibers, they are more and more often applied as the reinforcement of composites. Their availability, renewability, low density, and price as well as satisfactory mechanical properties make

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International Journal of Advances in Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No.3, 2011 them an attractive ecological alternative to glass, carbon and man-made fibers used for the manufacturing of composites. The natural fiber-containing composites are more environmentally friendly, and are used in transportation (automobiles, railway coaches, aerospace), military applications, building and construction industries (ceiling paneling, partition boards), packaging, consumer products, etc. Fiber reinforced composite materials are an important class of engineering materials. They offer outstanding mechanical properties, unique flexibility in design capabilities and ease of fabrication (Agarwal and Broutman, 1990). Composites using high strength fibers such as graphite, aramid and glass are commonly used in broad range of applications from aerospace structure to automotive parts and from building materials to sporting goods (Arib et al., 2006). However, the development of natural fiber reinforced composites become an attractive research lines due to the nonrecyclability, high density and health hazards of composites reinforced with synthetic fibers such as glass, carbon and aramid fibers (Corrales et al., 2007; Herrera and Valadez, 2005). Besides, the greatest problem of using such materials is how to conveniently dispose of them once they have come to the end of their useful life span (Bodros et al., 2007). Therefore, there has been growing interest in the use of natural cellulosic fibers as the reinforcement for polymeric matrix. Several natural fibers such as sisal (Chow et al., 2007), jute (Ahmed et al., 2007), flax (Baley et al., 2006), pineapple (Tran, 2006), bamboo (Shih, 2007), kenaf (Shibata et al., 2006), bagasse (Cao et al., 2006; Vilay et al., 2008) fibers and so on have been used as a reinforcement and filler in polymer composites. Advantages of Natural Fiber Composites The main advantages of natural fiber composite are: 1. Low specific weight, resulting in a higher specific strength and stiffness than glass fiber. 2. It is a renewable source, the production requires little energy, and CO2 is used while oxygen is given back to the environment. 3. Producible with low investment at low cost, which makes the material an interesting product for low wage countries. 4. Reduced wear of tooling, healthier working condition, and no skin irritation. 5. Thermal recycling is possible while glass causes problem in combustion furnaces. 6. Good thermal and acoustic insulating properties. 10. History of bamboo fiber and processing Historically, the most flexible item that could be made from bamboo was paper, which was invented in China a few centuries ago. Bamboo, among other materials, was used in the construction of some types of this early paper. Bamboo was used for many other things besides paper during this time, including houses, weapons, needles and many other products. Bamboo fiber strands being used for clothing in the20th century. In China and Japan, thin strips of bamboo were woven together into hats and shoes. One particular design of bamboo hats was stereotypically c o n n e c t e d w i t h r u r a l l i f e , b e i n g w o r n a l m o s t universally by farmers and fishermen in order to protect their heads from the sun. Qin and Han dynasties appeared with a bamboo cloth, bamboo crown etc, earlier days so many products are made of bambo o like bamboo rain shoes; bamboo hats, bamboo umbrella etc are still in use. Pulping the bamboo grass until it separates into thin threads of fiber, which is then spun and dyed for weaving into cloth.The fastest growing woody plant on this planet is bamboo. It grows one third faster than the fastest growing tree. Some species can grow up to 1 meter per day. Bamboo is just grass, but it varies in height from dwarf, one foot (30 cm) plants to giant timber bamboos that can grow to over 100 feet (30 m). It grow s in many different climates. Bamboos are further classified by the types of roots they have. Some, called runners, spread exuberantly, and others are classified as clampers (sympodial), which slowly expand from the original planting. There are also varieties of root systems that are a mixture of these types. Generally, the tropical bamboos tend to be clumpers and the temperate bamboos tend to runners.Bamboo fiber and starchy pulp are made from bamboo that grows widely through Asian countries. Starchy pulp is a refined product of bamboo stems and leaves through a process of hydrolysis-alkalisation and multi-phase bleaching. Chemical fiber factories then process it into fiber.

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International Journal of Advances in Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No.3, 2011 Bamboo is both decorative and useful. In many parts of the world it is food, fo dder, the primary construction material and is used for making a great variety of useful objects from kitchen tools, to paper to dinnerware. Generally bamboos are commonly used for furniture, construction, musical instruments and many more things. Bamboo is not only highly fashionable for decorative purposes but useful too. As it is a viable replacement for wood, in Eastern countries, it is the primary building material. Fig.3 shows a variety of Bamboo tree and its Botanical classification is shown below Table.2
Kingdom: Division: Class: Sub-class: Order: Family: Sub-family: Tribe: Sub-tribe: Plantae Magnoliophyta Liliopsida Commelinidae Cyperales Gramineae (Poaceae) Bambusoideae Bambuseae Bambusinae

Table.2

Fig.3

There are two kinds of bamboo fibers they are degummed natural bamboo fiber and the regenerated bamboo fiber. The degummed natural bamboo fiber is a natural extract without any chemical additive. This kind of fiber is easily identified through a fiber analysis and is claimed to be a non-cotton vegetable fiber. The regenerated bamboo fiber is produced through chemical processes of its pulp and pectin and spun into a fiber, resulting in a wrinkle-free fiber similar to rayon or modal. A regenerated bamboo fiber is a man-made fiber. Regenerated fibers are processed either mechanically or chemically.Fig.4 and Fig.5 shows the degummed natural bamboo and regenerated fiber.Fig.6 shows the Natural bamboo fiber strand which can be used for fabric weaving.

Mechanical Processing -In mechanical processing, the woody parts of the bamboo plant are crushed and its natural enzymes are used to produce a mushy mass where fibers are combed out and spun into a yarn. The product is bamboo fabric or bamboo linen. This process is eco-friendly and is similar to the manufacture of linen fabric. Chemical Processing -This is the most common process for regenerated bamboo fiber. This involves "cooking" the fiber with chemicals to create a form of regenerated cellulose fiber that can be turned into thread that can be woven into fabrics. All the parts of the bamboo trunk and its leaves are used for making a bamboo fabric. The plant undergoes the process of extraction and crushing in a mixture of chemicals and is converted into threads.

Fig.4

Fig.5

Fig.6

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International Journal of Advances in Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No.3, 2011 The most environmentally-friendly manner in which to process bamboo fiber is the Lyocell process, which has been praised for being more sustainable than other commonly-used chemical process. Lyocell shares many properties with other cellulosic fibers such as cotton, linen, ramie and rayon. The N- methylmorpholine-N-oxide chemicals used in the Lyocell process are non-toxic and are safer for humans. During production, 99.5% of the chemicals are captured in a closed-loop container and are recyclable. Minimal amounts of the chemicals are released to the atmosphere. New technology is currently being developed to add another option to bamboo processing methods called Green yarn which involves using chemicals to create nano particles of bamboo charcoal that are then woven into fabrics. The most commonly-used chemical process involves the use of carbon disulfide. In this process, the bamboo is crushed and the moisture content of the bamboo material is set to be more than 65%. The output forms alkali cellulose which is sulfurized through the carbon disulfide chemical added to it. This process turns the cellulose into gel which is then diluted with sodium hydroxide. This produces a viscose solution that is passed through nozzles and into another chemical solution where it hardens and is reconverted into thread and spun into fabric.

11. Chemical Treatment of Bamboo Fibers

The fibers are powdered. Then the fibers are cleaned normally in clean running water and dried. A glass beaker is taken and 6% NaOH is added and 80% of distilled water is added and a solution is made. After adequate drying of the fibers in normal shading for 2 to 3 hours the fibers are taken and soaked in the prepared NaOH solution. Soaking is carried out for different time intervals depending upon the strength of fiber required. For our project the fibers are soaked in the solution for three hours. After the soaking process is complete the fibers are taken out and washed in running water and dried for another 2 hours. Now the fibers are taken for the next fabrication process namely the procasting process

Advantages of chemical treatment First and foremost chemical treatment with NaOH will remove moisture content from the fibers thereby increasing its strength. Secondly the chemical treatment also enhances the flexural rigidity of the fibers. Thirdly this treatment clears all the impurities that are adjoining with the fiber material and also stabilizes the molecular orientation.

12. Moisture content and moisture absorption

Drying bamboo is fundamental to its conservation for various reasons. Bamboo with low humidity is less prone to mould attacks especially when humidity content is less than 15%. Physical and mechanical properties of bamboo increase with a decrease in its humidity content. Bamboo to be treated with a preservative needs to be dry to facilitate penetration and obtain a better result and reducing transport costs. Bamboo can be dried in air, green house, and oven or by fire. The presence of moisture content in natural fiber could be disastrous in terms of strength and durability for composite. Poor wetting surface for hydrophobic resin may cause interfacial shear bond and thus lower the strength of the composite. In long term effects, high moisture content in fiber can cause problems in dimensional stability of the composite. Therefore, the moisture content should be maintained to the lowest by oven dried. Table. 3 show the moisture content of other types of natural fibers. This study found that bamboo fiber has appreciating level of moisture content. However, in general, moisture

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International Journal of Advances in Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No.3, 2011 content in natural fibers is deadly high. This can be due to the hydrophilic character in natural fibers. High content cellulosic material which has hydroxyl groups in micro fibril tends to absorb the moisture in the air. Moisture percentage in Density the fiber at normal (Kg/m3) atm.conditions Vakka 12.09 810 Date 10.67 990 Bamboo (M) 9.16 910 Bamboo (C) 10.14 890 Palm 12.08 1030 Coconut 11.36 1150 Banana 10.71 1350 Sisal 9.76 1450 Table.3 (Moisture percentage and densities of various fibers at atmospheric condition) 12.1. Effect of Moisture absorption One of the main shortcomings of bamboo is water absorption when it is used as reinforcement. The capacity of bamboo to absorb moisture is shown in the graph, as time extends natural bamboo which absorbs maximum moisture around fifth month and then the absorbing capacity gets reduced. But the moisture absorbing tendency of reformed bamboo is very minimum than the natural bamboo. Name of the fiber

Graph.1
Moisture content of Natural & Reformed Bamboo with Time

13. Environmental benefits of bamboo

Bamboo plays a big part in our ecosystem. It is the fastest growing plant on the planet, mainly because it has extraordinary water absorbency, which helps it to grow fast and produces 35% more oxygen than the same area of trees. Bamboo does not need any sprays or chemicals to grow and is ideal for

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International Journal of Advances in Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No.3, 2011 protection against soil erosion. Bamboo also has the ability to grow in areas of both high and low rainfall. Bamboo fiber is 100% biodegradable. As the fastest growing plant in the world, bamboo grows to its maximum height in about 3 months and reaches maturity in 3-4 years. It spreads rapidly across large areas. Because of this, bamboo is known to improve soil quality in degraded and eroded areas of land. As a grass, bamboo is cut, not uprooted, also helping soil stability. Bamboo can also grow on hill slopes where nothing else is viable. The yield you get from an acre of bamboo is 10 times greater than the yield you get from cotton. In an age where land use is under enormous pressure, this is huge. The water requirement for bamboo is minute, mainly just from what falls. Conversely, the cotton used in ordinary fabrics, require enormous water, pesticide and labour to grow such intensive crop. Bamboo gives clean air to breathe, consumes carbon dioxide to a larger extent, because bamboo trees are so easy to grow, it returns 30 per cent more o x y g e n t o t h e a t m o s p h e r e t h a n o t h e r trees. It requires less water to grow. Also, it can survive in drought conditions and in times of flood.

14. Closed Mould - Hand Lay-up System

Steel mould is built for fabricating natural bamboo fiber composite. In the early stage, open mould system is made and several attempts to made natural fiber composite were carried out. However, the product of open mould system does not have good surface due to the irregularities of the fibers. Figure 7 shows the steel mould in an early stage as the important product to fabricate the polymeric composite. Open-mould system is then modified to close-mould system to achieve a better surface of the natural fiber composite. The fibers are compressed to the desired thickness by screw. The close-mould product successfully achieves the smooth surface of the composite. Closed moulds are made to fabricate natural fiber composite plate. The dimension and configuration of the closed-mould and the circuit diagram is shown in Figure 8. The dimensions of composite plate are 90 x 360 x 6 mm. A layer of silicone wax is applied to the mould before the start of the fabrication process. The reason is this layer of wax can decrease the adhesion of the composite with the steel mould and thus increase the easiness of mould removal.

Fig.7

Fig.8

15. Fabrication of Bamboo fiber Polyester Composite

Unidirectional natural Bamboo fiber along with additives like rice husk and polyethylene is used as the polymeric material to fabricate Natural bamboo fiber reinforced polymeric composite. This composite

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International Journal of Advances in Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No.3, 2011 is fabricated by closed-mould system. Fig.9 and Fig.10 shows the individual view of male and female mould which is mainly used for composite fabrication.

Fig.9 Fig.10 To make unidirectional bamboo fiber composite, the extracted bamboo fibers are oven dried at 105 2C for 24 hours and cut to the desired length. The fibers are weighed according to the fiber volume ratio. To maintain homogeneity, the fibers are arranged systematically according to the weight. Firstly, the weighed fibers are divided into two groups and they are knitted together as like a fabric mesh which represents a layer. The procedures are repeated for the second layers. Both layers are separated by polymeric resin placed inside the mould die along with the additives before fabrication as explained below. Initially the resin is measured according to the desired volume and the catalyst is measured for 0.9% by volume of the resin. The resin is mixed with catalyst and the mixture is stirred. A quarter of mixture is poured to the mould to ensure the mould surface is wetted. Then, the first layer of the fibers is laid gently without disturbing the fiber orientation. Then another quarter of mixture is poured to wet the fibers. Trowel is used to remove the air. Another quarter of mixture is poured before laying the second layer of the fibers. The last quarter of mixture is poured before the mould is closed and screwed by means of hydraulic press. The composite plate is removed from the mould after 24 hours. The procedures are repeated for all specimens. The specimen is ready for testing after 7 days of composite fabrication to ensure the resin is fully cured and hardened. The renewability of rice straw and inclusion of natural fiber provide an attractive eco-friendly quality to the resulting composites. We studied the use of rice straw as filler in matrix and reinforcement Composites containing 20 and 30% by weight rice straw were successfully prepared by extrusion and compression molding. Higher tensile moduli (E) were obtained for composites containing higher rice straw content. Fig.11 and fig.12 shows the Bamboo fiber Reinforced polymeric composite and the compression molding setup used to fabricate the mambo reinforced polymeric composite.

Fig.11

Fig.12

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Conclusion:
Natural fibers show signs of better advantages over the man-made fibers especially in cost, environmental aspects and high specific modulus when compared to synthetic fibers. However, the drawbacks of the natural fibres include low shear interface strength, thermal stability, water absorption, biodegradation and photodegradation which limit the potential of natural fiber composites in structural use. The drawbacks can be somewhat overcome by introducing chemical or physical treatments to the natural fibres. A lot trials and testing have been reported in the past few decades, the advancements in materials technology leads the successful usage of treated fibres in majority of the composites. In this bamboo reinforced polymeric composite as an initiative the inclusion of rice husk proven to be better adhesion with the laminates thereby reducing the chances of delaminating failures and considerable rise in the tensile moduli by adding appropriate quantity of rice husk. This gives a positive approach to conduct further studies in the characterization of this composite References [1]. Vazguez A et.al, Interfacial properties and initial step of the water sorption in unidirectional unsaturated polyester/vegetable fiber composites. Polymer composites 1999; 20(1):29-37. [2]. A.Grozdanov et.al, Rice straw as an alternative reinforcement in polypropylene composites, Australian journal of crop science 2007. [3]. K. Murali Mohan Rao et.al, Extraction and tensile properties of natural fibers Vakka, date and bamboo. Materials and design 31 (2010) 508-513. [ 4 ] . P.J.Herrera-Franco et.al, A study of mechanical properties of Short natural fiber reinforced composites. Composites: Part: B 36(2005) 597-608. [5].Khosrow Ghavami, Bamboo as reinforcement in structural concrete elements. Concrete composites 27 (2005) 637-649. [6]. Anil N. Netravali et.al, Composites get greener. Elsevier science 2003. [7]. Valadez-Gonzalez et.al, Effect of fiber surface treatment on the fibermatrix bond strength of natural fiber reinforced composites. Composites Part: B 30(1999)309-320. [8]. Navin Chand et.al, High stress abrasive wear study on bamboo. Wear 262 (2007) 1031-1037. [9]. Paul Wambua et.al, Natural fibres: can they replace glass in fibre reinforced plastics. Composites science and technology 63 (2003) 1259-1264. [10]. Ian.R.Hardin et.al, An assessment of validity of claims for bamboo fibers. AATCC international conference 2009. [11].R.S.P. Coutts, Autoclaved bamboo pulp fiber reinforced composites. Concrete composites 17 (1995) 99-106. [12]. Shigeyasu amada et.al, Fracture properties of bamboo. Composites: Part: B (2001) 451-459
[13]. J.Y.Zhang et.al, Residual properties of reformed bamboo. Composite science and technology 61 (2001) 1041-1048.

Authors Profile
Mr. N.Abilash received his Masters of Engineering degree from Anna University Chennai, India in 2006. This author is working as Asst.Professor from the department of Mechanical Engineering, Noorul Islam University Kumaracoil. A life member of Indian society for Technical Education. He made his presentations in various reputed journals. Also he worked as author and co-authors in publishing various text books. He was awarded as best lecturer for scoring high credits.

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