Dynamic mechanical and thermo-gravimetric analysis of Sansevieria cylindrica/polyester composite: Effect of fiber length, fiber loading and chemical treatment

The Sansevieria cylindrica (SC) fiber reinforced polyester matrix composites (SCFRPCs) were fabricated using compression molding machine. The influences of fiber length, fiber loading and chemical treatments of SCFRPCs over the mechanical and thermal stability were analyzed at different temperatures. The dynamic characteristics such as storage, loss modulus and damping were significantly influenced by the increase in fiber length and fiber loading but not in a geometric progression. Among various chemical treatments, the potassium permanganate treated SCFRPCs show the maximum increase in storage and loss modulus values. This result concluded that in addition to the reinforcing element (fiber length and wt% of fiber) the interfacial bonding between the fiber and the matrix plays a vital role in restricting the molecular mobility which was apparent from the storage modulus values. Efficient stress transfer at the interface is necessary to produce better dynamic properties rather than having more interfacial region. The change in morphology of cleaned and roughened SC fiber and the degree of interfacial adhesion between the fiber and matrix were studied using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The weight loss of SCFRPCs were also studied under varying temperatures with the help of thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA). (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.