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Mechanical Properties of Compression Molded Banana Pseudo-stem Filled Unplasticized Polyvinyl Chloride (UPVC) Composites a
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E. S. Zainudin , S. M. Sapuan , K. Abdan & M. T. M. Mohamad a
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Faculty of Engineering , Universiti Putra Malaysia , Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
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Faculty of Agriculture , Universiti Putra Malaysia , Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia Published online: 17 Dec 2008.
To cite this article: E. S. Zainudin , S. M. Sapuan , K. Abdan & M. T. M. Mohamad (2008) Mechanical Properties of Compression Molded Banana Pseudo-stem Filled Unplasticized Polyvinyl Chloride (UPVC) Composites, Polymer-Plastics Technology and Engineering, 48:1, 97-101, DOI: 10.1080/03602550802539916 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03602550802539916
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Polymer-Plastics Technology and Engineering, 48: 97–101, 2009 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0360-2559 print/1525-6111 online DOI: 10.1080/03602550802539916
Mechanical Properties of Compression Molded Banana Pseudo-stem Filled Unplasticized Polyvinyl Chloride (UPVC) Composites E. S. Zainudin1, S. M. Sapuan1, K. Abdan1, and M. T. M. Mohamad2 1
Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
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panels made from banana pseudo-stem fiber hybrid reinforced polymer composites, which demonstrated very encouraging mechanical tests results. Another study by Joseph et al.[6,7] and Idicula et al.[8] found that the banana pseudo-stem composites exhibit superior mechanical properties, which compare well with synthetic fibers such as glass in terms of specific properties, and could be used as structural material. In thermal behavior, Pothan et al.[9] concluded that composites with appropriate stiffness, modulus, and damping behavior ideal for use as a substitute for building material can be developed from banana fiber and polyester resins. Zhu et al.[10] found pulped banana fiber is a satisfactory fiber for incorporation into a cement matrix suitable for use as a building material. Although banana fiber has been useful as filler in various polymers, the use of banana fiber in PVC has not been studied extensively. Most of the research on PVC has involved wood flour, wood sawdust, and rice husk ash[11–13]. This study aimed to evaluate the mechanical characteristics of BPS=UPVC-composites obtained by compression molding. Composites were also analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in order to evaluate the morphological characteristics of composite fracture surfaces and microstructures.
Mechanical strengths of a banana pseudo-stem (BPS) fiber and unplasticized polyvinyl chloride (UPVC) composite were evaluated to assess the possibility of using it as a new material in engineering applications. Samples were fabricated by the compression molding process with reference to the effect of filler loading. The samples were submitted to mechanical tests to measure tensile, flexural, and impact properties of the composites. The nature of adhesion between the matrix and the reinforcement and information relating the structure of mechanical properties can be obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) assessment of the composite fracture surface. The mechanical properties show that the composites did not have good adhesion between filler and matrix; on the other hand, the filler insertion improved the flexural modulus and the material rigidity. Keywords Banana filler; Flexural property; Impact property; Tensile property
INTRODUCTION Natural fiber composites impart strength and stiffness to a product and have advantages such as low cost, environment affability, plentiful availability, and renewability[1]. Banana pseudo-stem (BPS) fiber, the trunk of the banana tree, is an underexploited material with considerable potential in this respect. The BPS fiber at present is a waste product of banana cultivation. Hence without any additional cost input banana fiber can be obtained for industrial purposes. Research has been carried out on other tissue types of the banana tree, e.g., banana leaf[2] and banana peel[3], but reports on the use of banana pseudo-stem as a source of reinforcement fiber in composite materials are very common. Sapuan et al.[4] found a stable mechanical behavior under different mechanical tests of woven banana pseudo-stem fiber composites for producing household utilities. Al Qureshi[5] developed a prototype of truck body
EXPERIMENTAL Materials The matrix used in this study was unplasticized polyvinyl chloride (UPVC) (IR064) supplied by Polymer Resources Sdn. Bhd., Kelang, Selangor, Malaysia. This UPVC was a medium molecular weight resin designed for general purpose application. It was a rigid polymer with amorphous structure. Some additives were inserted together in powder form into the pure PVC to make it unplasticized. The BPS filler used in this study was taken from banana tree trunk, which is known as a pseudo-stem. Detailed properties and the type of banana used cannot be
Address correspondence to E. S. Zainudin, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. E-mail:
[email protected]
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E. S. ZAINUDIN ET AL.
TABLE 1 Properties of BPS filler[8] Property
Value
Density (g=cm3) Elongation at break (%) Cellulose content (%) Lignin content (%) Tensile strength (MPa) Young’s modulus (GPa) Diameter (mm) Microfibrillar angle () Lumen size (mm)
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TABLE 3 Blend of formulation of BPS=UPVC composite 1.35 5–6 63–64 5 550 6.7 20 120 5.8 11 5
revealed by the supplier (Baala Bharat Agri Industries, Andhra Pradesh, India) due to the confidential nature of the information and data. Tables 1 and 2 show the important properties of BPS filler and UPVC, respectively. Incorporation of BPS Filler The blending process for the incorporation of BPS filler was calculated based on the maximum capacity of a high speed mixer. The full capacity of this machine was 44 g for each blending process. Table 3 shows the blend formulation of the BPS=UPVC composite for the incorporation of BPS filler. The BPS=UPVC composites were denoted by the symbols C1, C2, C3, and C4 (see Table 3). In these notations, C represents BPS filler and the digit denotes the weight percentage of filler. Compression Molding The flat plate of banana pseudo-stem filler reinforced UPVC composites with a constant thickness 1 mm for tensile test specimen and 3 mm for flexural test specimen were made using the technique according to ASTM standard. In this process, the heat for processing is applied by placing the mold between two heated platens to form the specimen plate. The platens are electrically heated by turning the TABLE 2 Properties of UPVC[13] Specification Specific gravity Specific heat Thermal conductivity Coefficient of linear expansion Tensile strength at 20C Elongation (min) Modulus of elasticity Water absorption
Value
Units
1.4–1.43 0.25 0.13 5.0 10 5
g=cm3 Kcal=Kg=C Kcal Cm HC =C
500 80 1200–1500
