Journal
COMPOSITES PART A-APPLIED SCIENCE AND MANUFACTURING
Volume 38, Issue 10, Pages 2109-2115Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2007.07.001
Keywords
fibres; thermosetting resin; mechanical properties; electron microscopy
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Leaf fibres from Phormium tenax (harakeke, New Zealand flax) were pulped at 170 C with NaOH and anthraquinone. The pulp was wet laid to form mats, which were used to reinforce epoxy composites. The flexural modulus was almost as high as that measured for epoxy reinforced with glass chopped strand mat at the same weight fraction. The flexural strength was two-thirds that of the glass-reinforced composite. Failure was abrupt. SEM images showed torn fragments of fibre cell walls protruding from the fracture surface, indicating strong interfacial bonding. Good mechanical performance was attributed to the rarity of kink bands in the individual fibre cells, along with wrinkled cell-wall surfaces that enhanced the area of the fibre-matrix interface. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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