JUTE/PP COMPOSITES: FIBRE STATISTIC PROPERTIES AND MATRIX MODIFICATIONS

摘要

Investigations of the effect of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAHgPP) coupling agents on the properties of jute fibre/polypropylene (PP) composites have been considered with two kinds of matrices (PP1 and PP2) to improve mechanical performances and environmental aging resistances. Both mechanical behaviour of random short fibre composites and micromechanical properties of single fibre model composites were examined. Taking into account of interfacial properties, a modified rule of mixture (ROM) theory is formulated which fits well to the experimental results. The addition of 2wt% MAHgPP to PP matrices can significantly improve the adhesion strength with jute fibres and in turn the mechanical properties of virgin and aged composites. We found that the intrinsic tensile properties of jute fibre are proportional to the fibre's cross-sectional area. The theoretical results are found to coincide with the experimental data fairly well and the major reason of composite tensile strength increase in humidity aging conditions can be attributed to improved both polymer matrix and interfacial adhesion strength.