Journal
COMPOSITES PART A-APPLIED SCIENCE AND MANUFACTURING
Volume 38, Issue 6, Pages 1517-1524Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2007.01.007
Keywords
natural fibre composites; hardness; interface/interphase; finite element analysis (FEA)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The hardness and elastic modulus of the cellulose fiber and polypropylene (PP) matrix in a cellulose fiber-reinforced PP composite were investigated by nanoindentation with a continuous stiffness technique. Nanoindentation with different indentation depths and spacings was conducted to measure hardness and elastic modulus in the interphase region, which was modified by malcic anhydride-grafted PP and gamma-amino propyltrimethoxy silane (gamma-APS) sizing. A line of indents was produced from the fiber to the matrix. There was a gradient of hardness and modulus across the interphase region. The distinct properties of the transition zone were revealed by 1-4 indents, depending on nanoindentation depth and spacing. Based on the results of nanoindentation, it was assumed that the width of the property transition zone is less than 1 mu m. However, three dimensional finite element analysis shows that even a perfect interface without property transition has almost same interphase width as that measured by nanoindentation. Using existing nanoindentation techniques, it will be difficult to calculate exact mechanical properties without the effect of neighboring material property in at least 8 times smaller region than indent size. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available