Statistics on the Fracture Strength of Bamboo Fibers

Tensile strength is a key mechanical property of fibers used as sustainable reinforcements for advanced fiber-reinforced composites. This study aims to conduct experimental investigation on the fracture strength of bamboo fibers of different dimensions subjected to longitudinal tensile loading. The statistical distributions of the fracture strength in bamboo fibers are correlated with the effects of fiber length and diameter variation. These are described according to Weibull statistics, which exhibit the random nature of fiber strength. The Weibull function parameters used for strength prediction are obtained from the test specimens. A comparison of predicted results and experimental data is presented to assess the accuracy of using weak-link scaling. Furthermore, the findings of this study also indicate that fiber strength statistics dominate size dependence of tensile strength. (C) 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers