Experimental Analysis of Bamboo and E-Glass Fiber ... · Experimental Analysis of Bamboo and...

Journal of Materials Science and Engineering B 6 (5-6) (2016) 153-160 doi: 10.17265/2161-6221/2016.5-6.005

Experimental Analysis of Bamboo and E-Glass Fiber

Reinforced Epoxy Hybrid Composite

Daniel Redda* and Abiy Alene

School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Addis Ababa University, King George VI Street -385, Ethiopia

Abstract: The main objective of this research is to investigate the performance of bamboo and E-glass fiber reinforced epoxy hybrid composite (BEGRC) for various applications. Initially, manual bamboo fiber extraction method was applied on Ethiopian highland bamboo species “Yushania Alpina” and soaked in a 5% NaOH to remove lignin and hemicellulose from fibers. Next, the bamboo and E-glass fiber test specimen was fabricated with 45% total fiber volume fraction and tensile, compressive, in-plane shear and flexural tests were carried out using universal testing machine. In the case of bamboo to E-glass fiber ratio of 50 : 50, it has high elastic modulus and better compressive strength. Therefore, it is clear that that bamboo and E-glass reinforced epoxy hybrid composite can be applied to various systems that require light weight and high strength. Key words: Bamboo, E-glass fiber, epoxy, hybrid composite, alkaline.

1. Introduction

Most of modern industrial artifacts such as wind

turbine blades, aircraft, ship and automotive parts are

manufactured from massive amount of synthetic

fibers. However these synthetic fibers have many

drawbacks from the fact that non-recyclable,

environmental pollution and high costs. From this

aspect, attention has given to materials such as

vegetable fibers including jute, wastes from industry,

mining and agricultural products for engineering

applications to control environmental degradation and

to minimize cost [1, 2].

Natural fibers have been popular reinforcement

material for fiber reinforced polymer composite

developments. These reinforcement can replace the

conventional fiber, such as glass as an alternative

material. Other than these natural fibers, bamboo is

another interesting material considered as plant fiber

& has a great potential to be used in polymer

composite industry [3-6]. According to Ref. [4-8], it is

known that bamboo is one of the ecological materials

*Corresponding author: Daniel Tilahun Redda, Ph.D., research fields: mechanical design, tribology and materials engineering.

for which it has many distinct characteristics: it

reaches its maximum strength in just few years, it is

renewable material and have simple production

process, have fairly good mechanical properties with

high specific strength, non-abrasive, eco-friendly and

bio-degradability characteristics, have low cost and

weight [8, 9]. This study has two parts. The first part

of the study focused on bamboo fiber extraction from

bamboo culm and fiber treatment. The second part

focused on experimental investigation of tensile,

compressive, flexural and in-plane shear strength of

bamboo and E-glass-fiber reinforced epoxy hybrid

composite.

2. Materials

In this work, System #2000 epoxy resin and System

#2060 hardener (Fiber Glast Development

Corporation, USA) were used. The bamboo fibers is

extracted in this work from Ethiopian highland

bamboo (Yushania Alpina) collected from Injibara,

North West part of Ethiopia, in green form. A UD

E-glass fibers were used for bamboo fibers

reinforcement, which is obtained from Dejen Aviation

(Davi), Bishoftu, Ethiopia.

D DAVID PUBLISHING

Experimental Analysis of Bamboo and E-Glass Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Hybrid Composite

154

2.1 Bamboo Fiber Extraction

There is After nodes, most inner parts and outer

thin layer of exoderm of the highland bamboo have

been removed, the remaining parts have cleaved in

longitudinal direction to thin strips using band saw.

Then these strips are bundled and kept in water for

five days in order to soften them. After removing, they

are beaten gently at slow constant impact load using

rubber hammer in order to loosen and separate the

fiber (Fig. 1a). The resulting fiber bundle is combed

using wire comb. (Fig. 1b). Next these fibers were so-

aked in 5% NaOH solution for 24 hours at 60 ºC in the

in oven dry to remove excess fats from individual

fiber (Fig. 1c).

Finally the fibers washed many times in distilled

water, and dried under the sun for four weeks. At the

end, fibers with a diameter of 170-300 μm and length

of 0.35-0.4 m were selected as hybrid reinforcement.

Finally these fibers were prepared manually in

unidirectional manner (Fig. 1d).

2.2 Preparation of Test Specimen

The BGREC is prepared on the 1,500 mm 500

mm 2 mm size of aluminum plate as a mold. The

plate mold was first coated with polyvinyl alcohol

solution (PVA) and then coated three times with thin

layer of paste wax to easily release composite from

mold. BEGRC specimen was fabricated with 45%

fiber volume fraction using vacuum bagging assisted

hand lay-up technique (Fig. 2). Impregnation process

is carried out manually (Fig. 3a).

A [0/90/0/90]s laminae orientation was used to

produce 2.5mm composite plate thickness for tensile

testing. Compressive and bending test specimens were

prepared as [902/02/-45/45]s laminae orientation

according to ASTM standard that gave 4 mm thick

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Fig. 1 Bamboo fiber extraction process.

Fig. 2 Flowchart of fabrication process of laminated composite using VBAHT.


155

Fig. 3 Composite fabrication by vacuum bagging system: (a) impregnation & lay-up, (b) consolidation, (c) curved BEGRC and ( d) aluminum mold.

composite plate. Similarly In-Plane Shear coupon was

prepared by off-axis tensile tests of a ± 45º (+ 45º and

– 45º lamina) orientation and produce 2.5mm thick

composite plate.

Then in consolidation stage, vacuum bagging

materials are applied to draw excess air (Fig. 3b).

Next solidification stage is processed at 80 bars of

pressure and 25 ºC with in 2 hrs. Finally it dried for 24

hrs. at room temperature. A [0/90/0/90]s laminae

orientation were used to produce 2.5 mm composite

plate thickness for tensile testing. Compressive and

bending test specimens were prepared as

[902/02/-45/45]s laminae orientation according to

ASTM standard that gave 4mm thick composite plate.

Similarly In-Plane Shear coupon was prepared by

off-axis tensile tests of a ± 45º (+ 45º and – 45º lamina)

orientation and produce 2.5 mm thick composite plate.

Middle plane was used in order to separate the

composite in to two half thickness of laminate

symmetrically as well as in order to keep the balance

of the stack. This assists the composite not easily to

delaminate during the loading. Generally, 9 laminae

for tensile, 15 laminae for shear, 14 laminae for

compressive & bending test specimens are used.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1 Results

Tensile tests, in-plane shearing test compressive

tests and bending tests were performed with Universal

Testing Machine (UTM) with cross head speed of 2,

2, 3 and 5 mm/min respectively.

Typical stress-strain curves for BEGRC under

tensile loading, in-plane shear loading, compression

loading and three point bending load is presented in

Figs. 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d, respectively.

3.2 Discussion

3.2.1 Tensile Test

From Fig. 4a, tensile stress increased linearly with

increase in strain until point of ultimate load under

tensile loading. Above this point, the stress–strain

curve showed sharp, staggered decreases in load and

fracture. Laminate under a tensile loading, a kink is

observed in few specimens in the graph indicating the

BEGRC load and the curve continues with increasing

load, but with a smaller slope, signifying a reduced

stiffness in the direction of the load. Tensile fracture

of unidirectional is mainly longitudinal cracking of

fibers.

The minimum ultimate strength is 187.73 MPa for

bamboo alone composite and the maximum value is

557.29 MPa for E-glass alone composite (Fig. 5). In

general, we concluded that as increase of bamboo

fiber percentages, the tensile strength decreases

slightly.

3.2.2 In-Plane Shearing Test

The typical stress–strain curves for BGREC under

in-plane shearing load and ultimate stress with

percentage of bamboo & E-glass fiber ratio was

presented in Fig. 4b. This graph showed that shear

stress increased linearly with increase in strain until

point of ultimate load under shearing load. Above

this point, the stress-strain curve showed a slow

decrement in load and failure happened at ultimate


156

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 4 Stress vs Strain curve for (a) tensile, (b) in-plane, (c) compressive and (d) flexural loading.

Fig. 5 Comparison of different bamboo/ E-glass ratio tensile peak value.

failure point. The minimum shear strength is 18.18

MPa for bamboo alone composite and the maximum

value is 97.55 MPa for 30 : 70 ratio (Fig. 6).

3.2.3 Compressive Test

Fig. 4c indicated that compressive stress increased

with an increment of strain until point of ultimate

0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.080

100

200

300

400

500

600

ENGINEERING STRAIN (mm/mm)

EN

GIN

EE

RIN

G S

TR

ES

S M

Pa)

Bamboo:E-glass=0:100






0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.050

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

IN-PLANE SHEAR STRAIN (mm/mm)

IN-P

LAN

E S

HE

AR

ST

RE

SS

(M

Pa)

Bamboo/E-glass=15:85





0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.080

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

ENGINEERING COMPRESSIVE STRAIN (mm/mm)

EN

GIN

EE

RIN

G C

OM

PR

ES

SIV

E S

TR

ES

S (

MP

a)






0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.10

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

FLEXURAL STRAIN (mm/mm)

FLE

XU

RA

L S

TR

ES

S (

MP

a)



Bamboo:E-glass=50:50Bamboo:E-glass=70:30


187.73

414.72

513.52 520.56 534.11 557.29

186.32

354.64

475.18 470.92 463.07489.62

4.59 5.96 5.99 7.32 7.49 7.090

100

200

300

400

500

600

100:0 70:30 50:50 30:70 15:85 0:100

Ultimate Tensile strength (MPa)Failure strength (MPa)Elongation at Break (%)

Bamboo:E‐glass fiber ratio in Tensile test (%)

Maxim

um Value

E

stress under

the stress–st

This graph

non-linear, i

is jerky/st

compressive

buckling of

According

properties

as the angle

0°. In this

are same i

Fig. 6 Comp

Fig. 7 Comp

2

4

6

8

10

Maxim

um Value

Experimental

r compressiv

train curve s

h shown tha

in which the

tick-slip be

e stress of BE

specimens.

g to the

of compos

of orientatio

study, fibe

i.e. unidirec

parison of diffe

parison of diffe

18.18

0

20

40

60

80

00

10

Bam

l Analysis of

ve loading. A

showed non-

at the incre

responsible

ehavior. D

EGRCs rapidl

Tsai-Hill cr

ites continu

on of the fiber

ers direction

ctional, but

erent bamboo/

erent bamboo/

8

6

17.79

1.34

00:0

mboo:E‐gla

MaximumFailure stFailure st

Bamboo and

Above this po

-linear segme

ement value

for this respo

During fract

ly decreased w

riteria [7],

uously decr

rs increases f

in all lam

ply angles

/E-glass ratio i

/E-glass ratio c

69.7165.24

4.95

70:30

ass fiber ra

m In‐plane Strength (MPtrain (%)

d E-Glass Fibe

oint,

ents.

e is

onse

ture,

with

the

rease

from

minae

are

diff

an

of

stre

stre

unid

F

stre

yiel

com

valu

114

in-plane shear

compressive pe

84.3182

4

50:50

tio in In‐pl

Shear strengPa)

er Reinforced

ferent in all t

increment in

middle laye

ength obtaine

ength which

directional w

Fig. 7 illustra

ength, failure

ld strength.

mpressive- str

ue is obtaine

4.13 MPa.

peak value.

eak value.

97.55

2.45

4.18

0 3

lane Shear

th (MPa)

d Epoxy Hybr

type of BEG

n numbers o

ers fibers fro

ed is much

are all fib

way.

ated the pea

e strength, f

Ratio of 50

rength, 146.2

ed from the

5 991.96

5.27

30:70

r test (%)

rid Composit

GRCs samples

of layers and

om 0º, the

lower than

bers of lami

ak values of

failure strain

: 50 record

22 MPa; And

15 : 85 rat

94.21 93.9

4.82

15:85

te 157

s. So, due to

d orientation

compressive

n the tensile

inate are in

compressive

and (0.2%)

ded a higher

d a minimum

tio, which is

94

2

7

o

n

e

e

n

e

)

r

m

s

E

158

3.2.4 Flex

From Fig

increase in

stress unde

stress-strain

peak value

failure strain

clearly illust

concentrated

where load

strength is 3

maximum v

Bamboo, E

fluctuations

recorded du

tests.

The load

Responsible

rates and sm

used during

Modulus

and flexural

Fig. 9. The

modulus for

and 11,588 M

As we o

modulus is

Fig. 8 Comp

Experimental

xural Test

. 4d flexural

strain until

r bending l

curve show

of flexure r

n of each BG

trated in figu

d near the m

d was appli

376.17 MPa f

alue is 478.3

-glass & ep

of stress-str

uring uniaxia

oscillations h

e for this stic

mall specim

UTM test [10

of elasticity f

l tests also

minimum an

r these comp

MPa respectiv

observe from

recorded in a

parison of diffe

l Analysis of

stress increa

point of m

load. Above

wed non-linea

rupture, failu

GREC ratio in

ure 8. Here, b

middle of th

ed. The mi

for 70 : 30 co

5 MPa for 0

oxy bond re

rain curve (

al compressi

happened due

ck-slip is due

ens with slo

0].

for tensile, sh

determined,

nd maximum

posites are fo

vely.

m the graph,

a 50 : 50 rat

erent bamboo/

Bamboo and

ased linearly w

maximum flex

this point,

ar segments.

ure strength

n bending loa

bending fract

he test speci

inimum flex

omposite and

: 100 compo

evealed a str

(slip-stick eff

ion and ben

e to the stick-

e to small st

ow loading r

hear, compres

as illustrated

values of ten

ound to be 3

a good ten

tio of bambo

/E-glass ratio f

d E-Glass Fibe

with

xure

the

The

and

ad is

tures

imen

xural

d the

osite.

rong

ffect)

ding

-slip.

train

rates

ssive

d in

nsile

3211

nsile

oo to

E-g

dete

for

valu

com

S

5,04

indi

E-g

the

load

3

F

the

exh

failu

100

failu

It

grip

first

foll

prop

attr

dela

inta

dela

flexural peak v

er Reinforced

glass fiber ra

ermined, and

50 : 50 rat

ues. As wel

mposites vary

Similarly, the

47.7 and 7,6

icates that th

glass ratio has

tests carried

d-bearing cap

3.2.5 Failure M

Fig. 10 and T

specimens.

hibited simila

ure types at t

0 : 0 ratio, t

ure types.

t also observ

ps & multim

t matrix (adh

lowed by fi

pagates spon

ibuted by

amination. Th

act areas of

amination buc

value.

d Epoxy Hybr

atio. Shear m

3,568 MPa f

tios were a m

ll the compr

y between 1,9

e flexural mo

681.26 MPa.

he BEGRC w

s relatively hi

out. As a res

pacity.

Modes Identi

Table 1 show

All specime

ar failure m

the middle of

types of fail

ved that some

ode types. F

hesive betwe

fibers failure

ntaneously. C

micro bu

he delaminat

the laminat

ckling and gro

rid Composit

modulus of e

for 100 : 0 an

minimum an

ressive mod

06 and 2,630

odulus also v

This observ

with 50 : 50

igher moduli

sult, this ratio

ification

w the mode o

ens under ten

modes; that

f gage area. I

lure identifie

e specimens s

or all layers

een fibers) fa

e through th

Compressive

uckling surr

ted portions s

te by a com

owth, the buc

te

lasticity also

nd 5,418 MPa

nd maximum

duli of these

0 MPa.

vary between

vation clearly

0 bamboo to

in almost all

o has a better

of failures of

nsile loading

is explosive

In the case of

d are lateral

start to fail at

of laminate,

ailure occurs

hen fracture

failure was

rounded by

spread to the

mbination of

ckling further

o

a

m

e

n

y

o

l

r

f

g

e

f

l

t

,

s

e

s

y

e

f

E

Fig. 9 Comp

Fig. 10 (a) I

Table 1 Mo

Loading cond

Tensile

In-plane shear

Compressive

Flexural

enhancing

culmination

stiffness of s

In the ca

specimens f

of gage are

edge delami

failure on th

matrix and

surface was

Experimental

parison of You

Intact coupon u

de of failures u

dition

r

the growth

of this last

specimens.

ase of in-plan

failed by later

a; and only

nation. In the

he tension sur

fiber breakag

due to buckli

l Analysis of

ung’s Modulus

under tension

under differen

ASTM

D3039

D3518/

D3410

D790

h of dama

event is the

ne shearing t

ral failure typ

a few specim

e case of flexu

rface of speci

ge while on

ing of specim

Bamboo and

for different f

and compressi

nt loading cond

standards

/D3039

ged area.

complete los

test, most of

pe, in the mi

men’s failure

ural test, bend

imens was du

the compres

mens.

d E-Glass Fibe

fiber ratio.

ion loading an

ditions.

M

X

A

A

B

The

ss of

f the

ddle

e by

ding

ue to

ssive

4. C

T

hyb

tens

Firs

Eth

Alp

furt

Sec

er Reinforced

d (b) intact cou

Mode of failure

XGM, LGM

AGM, DGM, L

AGM, BGM, T

BBB, CBT, MU

Conclusion

The performa

brid composit

sile, compres

st, manual me

hiopian high

pina” was und

ther lignin an

cond, differen

d Epoxy Hybr

upon under sh

es identified in t

LGM

AT

UV, TAM

ns

ance of bambo

te (BEGRC) w

ssive, in-plane

ethod of bam

hland bamb

dertaken and

nd hemicellus

nt mechanica

rid Composit

hear and bendi

terms of codes

oo and E-gla

was investiga

e shear and f

mboo fiber ext

boo species

a 5% NaOH

slose remova

al properties

te 159

ing load.

ass reinforced

ated based on

flexural tests.

traction from

“Yushania

was used for

al from fiber.

of BEGRC

9

d

n

.

m

a

r

.

C


160

were determined from different bamboo to E-glass

fiber percentage of 45% total fiber volume. Thus, the

following results are obtained:

The tensile, compressive, shear and flexural

properties of BEGRC composites depends

fundamentally on the amount layers in a laminate,

angle and orientation of lamian and bamboo to E-glass

fiber percentage presences in the composite.

High modulus of elasticity and compressive

properties are obtained from bamboo to E-glass

reinforced fiber ration of 50 : 50.

For a selected bamboo species, a three years old of

extracted bamboo fiber is good enough to use as

reinforced in structural fibers.

References

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[2] Abdul Khalil, H. P. S., Bhat, I. U. H., Jawaid, M., Zaidon, A., Hermawan, D. and Hadi, Y. S. 2012. “Bamboo Fiber Reinforced Bio Composites: A Review.” Materials and Design 42: 353-68.

[3] Giovanni Belingardi, Ermias Gebrekidan Koricho, ‘developing composite engine support sub-frame to achieve lightweight vehicles’, 16th International Conference on Composite Structures ICCS 16, 2011

Porto. [4] Koricho, E. G. 2012. “Implementation of Composite and

Plastics Materials for Vehicle Light Weight.” Ph.D. thesis, Poly Technic University of Turin, 44-74.

[5] Durai Prabhakaran, R. T. 2012. “Future Materials for Wind Turbine Blades – A Critical Review.” In Proceedings of International Conference on Wind Energy: Materials, Engineering and Policies (WEMEP-2012), Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani-Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad (India), November 22-23 (In CD).

[6] Lugt, P., Dobbelsteen, A. A. J. F. and Janssen, J. J. A. “An Environmental, Economic and Practical Assessment of Bamboo.” Accessed Oct. 16, 2008. http//www.bamboocraft.net.

[7] Raghavendra Rao, H., Varada Rajulu, A., Ramachandra

Reddy, G. and Reddy, K. H. 2010. “Flexural and

Compressive Properties of Bamboo and Glass

Fiber-Reinforced Epoxy Hybrid Composites.” Journal of

Reinforced Plastics and Composites 29: 1446.

[8] Wong, K. J., Yousif, B. F. and Low, K. O. 2010. “The

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[9] Gay, D., Hoa, S. V. and Tsai, S. W. 2003. “Composite Materials: Design and Applications.” CRC Press LLC, Florida.

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