Fabrication And Property Investigation Of Jute Fiber Reinfored Polypropylene Composite

Recent a few decades, all kinds of products made of jute reduce rapidly in the market because the competition of cheaper synthetic fibers. Because jute is annually regenerative, being low density, high strength and low price, it is very beneficial to be used as reinforcing fiber in composite industry for the decrease of cost and improvement of specific strength and specific module. Using jute fiber in the fields of reinforced polymer composites has a great meaning to make full use of jute resource in our country.In this thesis, properties of jute fiber reinforced polypropylene samples prepared by injection molding are studied. The tensile, flexural and impact behaviors of samples with different fiber contents are investigated by comparing three kinds of composites whose fiber contents are 10, 20 and 30Wt%; The tensile, flexural and impact behaviors of samples with different fiber length are also investigated by comparing three kinds of composites whose fibers are respectively chopped to approximately 3mm, 5mm and 10mm in length. The comparison between properties of jute fiber reinforced polypropylene composite and ramie ones is made to study the influence of different fiber properties in reinforced composites.The main conclusions are as follows:l.The properties of jute fiber reinforced polypropylene composite are better than those of pure polypropylene.2. Without the modification of fiber surface, when the jute fiber content is between 10Wt% and 30Wt%, the tensile strength of jute fiber reinforced polypropylene composite samples show little change with increasing fiber content. The flexural strength and module of samplesincrease with increasing fiber content. Their tensile strength and module also increase with increase in fiber length when the jute fiber length is between 3mm and 10mm. The little improvement of tensile strength of jute fiber reinforced polypropylene composite is due to the poor interfacial adhesion between fiber and polypropylene.3. The elongation of jute fiber reinforced polypropylene samples sharp decreases after adding jute fibers when compared to pure polypropylene, namely the ductibility of jute fiber reinforced polypropylene decreases. When the jute fiber content is between 10Wt% and 30Wt%, the ductibility of samples decrease with increasing fiber content. The ductibility also increases with increase in fiber length when the jute fiber length is between 3mm and 10mm.4. The impact toughness and fracture toughness of the composite samples decrease after adding jute fibers when compared to pure polypropylene. At the same time they decrease with increasing fiber content when the jute fiber content is between 10Wt% and 30Wt%. The module of composite is remarkably improved after adding jute fibers but the toughness decreases.5. The temperature resistance of jute fiber reinforced polypropylene composite increase with increasing fiber content. When jute fiber length is between 3mm and 10mm, the temperature resistance of composite also increases with increase in fiber length.6. Like sample of jute fiber reinforced composite, the tensile strength, flexural strength, module and temperature resistance of ramie fiber reinforced polypropylene are improved but its toughness and ductibility decrease. Because there is a great deal of difference in shape and gum content of two fibers, further experiments needed in order to study the influence of different fiber properties in reinforced composites.To sum up, the tensile strength, flexural strength, module andtemperature resistance of jute fiber reinforced polypropylene are improved after adding jute fibers but its toughness and ductibility decrease. In addition, it is necessary for better capabilities of jute fiber reinforced polypropylene to improve the interfacial adhesion between jute fiber and polypropylene.