Article Sidebar
Published:
May 15, 2022DOI:
10.4314/njt.v41i1.9Keywords:
Article Details
Copyright belongs to the Faculty of Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
The contents of the articles are the sole opinion of the author(s) and not of NIJOTECH.
NIJOTECH allows open access for distribution of the published articles in any media so long as whole (not part) of articles are distributed.
A copyright and statement of originality documents will need to be filled out clearly and signed prior to publication of an accepted article. The Copyright form can be downloaded from https://www.nijotech.com/downloads/COPYRIGHT%20FORM.pdf while the Statement of Originality is in Statement of Originality.pdf (nijotech.com)
For articles that were developed from funded research, a clear acknowledgement of such support should be mentioned in the article with relevant references. Authors are expected to provide complete information on the sponsorship and intellectual property rights of the article together with all exceptions.
It is forbidden to publish the same research report in more than one journal.
Main Article Content
A review on the factors affecting the properties of natural fibre polymer composites
Abstract
Improved quality natural fibre composites cannot be achieved without considering certain factors such as the degree of uniformity of the fibre, wettability of the fibre, fibre length, fibre volume fraction, type of matrix, interfacial bond strength, fibre orientation, compatibility of the fibre with the resin, processing parameters and manufacturing techniques among others. Their influences on the properties of the composites with typical examples from previous works were highlighted. The exact or approximate volume fractions of specific fibres in specific resins for optimal performance in composites are lacking. Epoxy, low density polyethylene, polystyrene and polyester resins were mostly used as matrix for natural fibre composites. Epoxy resins possess higher tensile and flexural strengths than polyester resins. Significant differences in the tensile strength and Young’s modulus of natural fibre polymer composites were observed with changes in the orientation and length of the fibres particularly when the differences in length are significant. Other relevant issues affecting natural fibre composites were buttressed with the aim of improving the properties of natural fibre polymer composites for advanced applications.
