Water Absorption and Thickness Swelling Behaviour of Bagasse Fibre Reinforced Polyester Co posites

!"#arthikeyan$% A"!ohn &artin'% T"Selvara()

1 2

Department of Mechanical Engineering, SBM College of Engineering and Technology, Dindigul, TN., 62 !!", #ndia Department of Mechanical Engineering, SBM College of Engineering and Technology, Dindigul, TN., 62 !!", #ndia $ Department of Mechanical Engineering, SBM College of Engineering and Technology, Dindigul, TN., 62 !!", #ndia %ddre&&
jkarthik1979@gmail.com ajohnmartin@yahoo.com 3selva87selvaraj@gmail.com
2 1

Abstract* The composite materials chosen for structural up gradation must, in addition to functional efficiency and increasing or improving the various properties of the structures, should fulfil some criterion, for the cause of sustainability and a better quality at various environmental conditions. Keeping this in view the present work has been undertaken to develop a polymer matrix composite (Unsaturated Polyester using bagasse fibre as reinforcement. !he main emphasis has been on the experimental work relating to the water absorption and thickness swelling behaviour of this composite. "agasse fibres were simply randomly mixed with polyester resin, and composite specimens with fibre contents of #$%, #&% and '$% by weight were fabricated by a wooden mould by hand layup moulding technique. (hort term physical properties were investigated by water immersion. )t was found that the water absorption and thickness swelling increases with bagasse content increase. *esults indicated that time durations of '+ and +, hr have yielded the least water absorption and thickness swelling for bagasse fibre content of #$%. Keywords* Polymer -omposites, "agasse .ibre, Unsaturated Polyester *esin, /ater 0bsorption, !hickness (welling

processing te peratures% the tendency to for clu ps and the hydrophilic nature" Water absorption and thickness swelling are the ost i portant physical characteristics of natural fibre co posites e7posed to environ ental conditions and thus deter ining their end user applications" Water absorption can deteriorate both echanical properties and di ensional stability in such co posites" Therefore% hygroscopic characteristics have to be taken into account as li iting para eters in the design of natural fibre co posites" The ai of this study is to prepare baggage fibre reinforced polyester co posite and investigate the water absorption and thickness swelling behaviour of the co posite" ++" 0+T;RAT/R; S/R=;> ?ope P"C"% =er a .eepak% Shar a R"#" and &aheswari &"# 9'@$': presented a review to e7plore the potential of the bagasse fibre poly er co posites and to study the echanical properties of co posites A8B" Ah ad Sa ariha% A ir <oo an <e asi% +s ail ?hase i and Beh3ad Ba3yar 9'@$$: ade co posites fro Bagasse flour and Recycled <igh .ensity Polyethylene by using in(ection oulding techni2ue" +t was found that the water absorption and thickness swelling increase with bagasse flour content increase A4B" Ah ad Sa ariha% &oha ad ,e ati% &a(id #iaei% <assan ,osrati and Foad Ravanbakhsh 9'@$': ade co posites fro Bagasse flour and Recycled <igh .ensity Polyethylene by using in(ection oulding techni2ue with &aleic anhydride polyethylene as chelating agent " They found that the least water absorption and thickness swelling was
absorbed for ini u bagasse flour content ACB"

+" +,TR-./CT+-, 0arge varieties of sugarcane grow abundantly in any parts of +ndia" Cane is crushed in a series of ills1 each consists of at least three heavy rollers" .ue to the crushing cane stalk will break in s all pieces% and subse2uent illing will s2uee3e the (uice out" The (uice is collected and processed for production of sugar" The resulting crushed and s2uee3ed cane stalk% na ed bagasse% is considered to be a by product of the illing process" Bagasse is essentially a waste product that causes ills to incur additional disposal costs" Presently 456 of bagasse production is used as a burning raw aterial in sugarcane ill furnaces" Appro7i ately 86 of bagasse is used in alcohol 9ethanol: production" ;ven so% there is an e7cess of bagasse" /sually this e7cess is deposited on e pty fields altering the landscape" <ence there e7ists an e7cellent opportunity in fabricating bagasse based co posites towards a wide array of applications" <owever the ain disadvantages of natural fibres are low

#annan Rassiah% Sasitharan ,agapan and &at !idin R 9'@$': investigated the effect of sugarcane bagasse fibre incorporation with low density polyethylene 90.P;: and its surface treat ent with '6 concentration sodiu hydro7ide 9,A-<: acid on the two types of water1 distilled water and sea water% and soil bio degradation were evaluated" The results obtained show that in the case of co posites with untreated sugarcane fibre is higher swelling in distilled water

co pare to sea water% while for bio degradable the content of treated sugarcane between 9$@D E@ wt6: is higher in ascending order A5B" Punyapriya &ishra 9'@@C: developed a poly er atri7 co posite 9epo7y resin: using bagasse fibre as reinforce ent and studied its echanical properties and environ ental perfor ance" The effects of different environ ent such as sub3ero% stea % saline water and natural conditions on the echanical properties of the co posites were assessed" The change in weight% volu e and di ensions were studied for various treat ents" +t was evident that best echanical property results were obtained with bagasse fibre that were both washed and treated with acetone" Results showed that fle7ural strength could be increased by 5@6 after reinforcing the poly er with '@6 washed and acetone treated bagasse fibres in co parison to raw fibre A$CB" +++" &AT;R+A0S &aterials used in this e7peri ental work are as followsF ,atural Fibre G Bagasse Resin D /nsaturated Polyester Accelerator D Cobalt -ctoate 9H6: Catalyst D <ydrogen Pero7ide %. Baga&&e 'i(re The sugarcane bagasse is a residue widely generated in high proportions in the agroDindustry" +t is a fibrous residue of cane stalks left over after the crushing and e7traction of (uice fro the sugarcane" Bagasse is generally grayDyellow to pale green in color" +t is bulky and 2uite non unifor in particle si3e" The sugarcane residue bagasse is an underutili3ed% renewable agricultural aterial that consists of two distinct cellular constituents" The first is a thick walled% relatively long% fibrous fraction derived fro the rind and fibroDvascular bundles dispersed throughout the interior of the stalk" The second is a pith fraction derived fro the thin walled cells of the ground tissue" B. )n&aturated *olye&ter +e&in /nsaturated polyesters are very versatile aterials" They can be rigid% resilient% fle7ible% corrosion resistant and weather resistant" They are the condensation products of unsaturated dibasic acids 9usually aleic anhydride:% saturated dibasic acids and glycols" ?eneral purpose grade Polyfle7 ?R G '@@ G $@$ ade by ,aptha Resins and Che icals have been taken as the resin for our e7peri ental study" C. Co(alt ,ctoate 6Cobalt -ctoate with H6 cobalt content is an effective accelerator for polyester" Accelerators are co pounds used in the polyester to speed up the curing reaction" +t helps to start the che ical reaction between the resin and styrene ono er and for a cured solid" Thus% it affects curing or poly eri3ation of /nsaturated Polyester resin in co bination

with catalyst" Cobalt -ctoate H6 supplied by Alpha Che ie has been used for the e7peri ental study" D. .ydrogen *ero/ide <ydrogen pero7ide act as an initiator 9often called a catalyst: to initiate the cure reaction" They are the final additive re2uired to initiate the curing process" <ydrogen pero7ide ade by ,ational Pero7ide 0td has been used for this study" +=" ;IP;R+&;,TA0 SA&P0; PR;PARAT+-, The following procedure has been adopted for the preparation of co posite sa ples %. Baga&&e 'i(re *reparation Fresh bagasse fibres were collected after they were crushed for e7tracting (uice by using a hand crushing achine" These fibres were spread on a water proof sheet and dried for about E4 hours" After drying% the outer rind was separated fro the inner pith anually and taken for further processing" The outer rind of the bagasse were crushed and powdered to reduce the length of the fibre" Bagasse in powdered for and with short length of $ G $@ was used for the preparation of co posites" B. *reparation of Compo&ite Sample& Wooden hollow block with inner di ension of appro7i ately $)5 I $'@ I $@ was used for oulding" Wooden block is placed over ica sheet for easy re oval of the part" Wa7 supplied by Sheenwa7 is used as the releasing agent" Wa7 is applied on the inner surfaces of the wooden block for easy part re oval" '6 of accelerator 9cobalt octoate H6: is i7ed with polyester resin by unifor stirring i"e"% accelerator is i7ed with the resin in the ratio of 'F$@@ by weight" Bagasse fibre is i7ed with the resinDaccelerator i7ture in different co positions of $@6% $56 and '@6 by weight"
TAB0; + BA?ASS; F+B;RDP-0>;ST;R R;S+, C-&P-S+T+-,

(ample A B C

"agasse .ibre and Polyester *esin -omposition "agasse .ibre Polyester *esin % % $@ $5 '@ 8@ 45 4@

Catalyst 9hydrogen pero7ide: was poured inside the wooden block at the four inner corner areas and at the centre" Then the resinDfibreDaccelerator i7ture with $@6 fibre content 9Sa ple A: is poured inside the wooden block to the re2uired level" The re aining catalyst 9hydrogen pero7ide: is

poured over the resinDfibreDaccelerator i7ture unifor ly over the entire surface" /nifor pressure is applied over the oulding anually by a roller to avoid the for ation of air bubbles% cavities as well as to ensure surface unifor ity" Another ica sheet is used to cover the top of oulding to avoid air entrap ent" Then the oulding is allowed to cure at roo te perature for about ' hours" After curing the part is drawn fro the wooden block" The sa e procedure is adopted for preparing the sa ples B and C" ="
&;AS/R;&;,TS

poly er atri7 aterials% water absorption of the co posite is decreased due to hydrophobic nature of these poly eric aterials"

Water absorption and thickness swelling tests were carried out according to AST& .DC@)$D@E" The weight and thickness of the dried speci ens were easured to a precision of @"@@$ g and @"@@$ % respectively" The speci ens were i ersed in water for 'E hrs and E4 hrs at roo te perature" Then the e7cess water on the surface is wiped off by blotting paper" The values of the water absorption in percentage were calculated using the following e2uation" W 9t: G W 9o: WA 9t: J DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD 7 $@@ W 9o: Where WA 9t: is the water absorption at ti e t% W 9o: is the dried weight and W 9t: is the weight of the speci en at a given i ersion ti e t" The values of the thickness swelling in percentage were calculated using the following e2uation" T 9t: G T 9o: TS 9t: J DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD 7 $@@ T 9o: Where TS 9t: is the thickness swelling at ti e t% T 9o: is the initial thickness of the speci ens and T 9t: is the thickness at ti e t" =+" R;S/0TS %. 0ater %(&orption after 2 and 1 hr& immer&ion2 ;ffect of different levels of fibre contents on water absorption characteristics of the co posites% has been proved significant at 886 reliability being soaked for 'E and E4 hours" Water absorption is increased after 'E and E4 hr with higher a ounts of reinforce ent aterials added" Although the lowest content of absorbed water after 'E hr i ersion is related to $@6 reinforced% the highest content of absorbed water after E4 hr associates with '@6 reinforced 9Figures $:" +t should be noted that the percentage of water absorption is also increased generally when ore reinforce ent aterials are used which can be attributed to hydrophilic nature of lignocelluloses aterials" <owever% once co posed with

Fig" $ ;ffect of fibre content on water absorption after 'E and E4 hr i ersion"

Fig" ' ;ffect of fibre content on thickness swelling after 'E and E4 hr i ersion"

B. Thic3ne&& S4elling after 2 and 1 hr& immer&ion2 ;ffect of different levels of fibre contents on thickness swelling characteristics of the co posites% has been proved significant at 886 reliability being soaked for 'E and E4 hours" Thickness Swelling is increased after 'E and E4 hr with higher a ounts of reinforce ent aterials" Although the lowest content of thickness swelling after 'E hr i ersion is related to $@6 reinforced% the highest content of thickness swelling after E4 hr associates with '@6 reinforced 9Figures ':" ,oteworthy is that functional group of hydro7yl e7isting in the reinforce ent phase and there is so e bonding between these aterials and poly ers" -nce the co posite is e7posed to water% its connections or bonding will break and for new connections% which can lead to increased water absorption and thickness swelling as well"

=++" C-,C0/S+-,S Results show that there e7ists an e7cellent opportunity in fabricating bagasse based polyester co posites towards a wide array of structural applications" Water absorption after 'E hrs i ersion had the lowest value when so e $@6 reinforce ent was consu ed in Bagasse fiberKPolyester co posites" Further thickness swelling after 'E hrs i ersion had the lowest value when so e $@6 reinforce ent was consu ed in Bagasse fiberKPolyester co posites" The water absorption and thickness swelling of co posites was lowered with the decrease in bagasse fiber content" AC#,-W0;.?&;,T This study is derived fro the (ournal articles% as in ACB% A4B" The authors appreciate the support received fro the .epart ent of &echanical ;ngineering% SB& College of ;ngineering and Technology% .indigul in Ta ilnadu% +ndia" R;F;R;,C;S
A$B A'B A)B Bryan <arris% Engineering Compo&ite Material&% 'nd ed"% +nstitute of &aterials% 0ondon% $888" !os in P"!ose% Sant #u ar &alhotra% Sabu Tho as% #uruvilla !oseph% #oichi ?oda and &eyyarappallil Sadasivan Sreekala% *olymer Compo&ite&2 5olume 1% $st ed"% '@$'" ;lisangela Corradini% ;dson ," +to% !ose &" &arconcini% Carlos Triveno Rios% !ose A"&" Agnelli and 0ui3 <"C" &attoso% L+nterfacial Behaviour of Co posites of Recycled Poly 9ethylene terephthalate: and Sugarcane Bagasse Fiber%M El&e6ier, *olymer Te&ting% vol" '4% pp" $4)G$4C% ,ov" '@@4" Beh3ad #-R.% L;ffects of Co patibili3er and ,anolayered Silicate on Physical and &echanical Properties of PPKBagasse Co posites%M Tur3 7 %gric 'or.% vol" )H% pp" 5$@G5$C% !an" '@$'" #annan Rassiah% Sasitharan ,agapan% and &at !idin R% LThe ;ffect of Sodiu <ydro7ide 9,A-<: on Water Absorption and Biodegradability of 0ow .ensity Polyethylene 90.P;:KSugarcane Bagasse 9SCB: Co posites%M Canadian 7ournal on Mechanical Science& and Engineering.% vol" )% ,o"$% !an" '@$'" Shrihari Prasad A% Balakrishna &urthy =% Ra ana #"=% and Sa basiva Rao ?% LPreparation of Transversely +sotropic Test Speci en of ,atural FRP Co posite G An +nnovative Approach ++%M 7ournal of E/perimental Science&% vol" )9':% pp" )HD)8% '@$'" Ah ad Sa ariha% &oha ad ,e ati% &a(id #iaei% <assan ,osrati and Foad Ravanbakhsh% L+nvestigation on Physical Properties of a Co posite ade fro Bagasse Flour and Recycled <igh .ensity Poly

A4B

A8B A$@B

A$$B A$'B A$)B

A$EB

A$5B

AEB A5B

A$HB A$CB A$4B A$8B A'@B

AHB

ACB

;thylene%M Middle Ea&t 7ournal of Scientific +e&earch% vol" $'9':% pp" $HED$HH % '@$'" Ah ad Sa ariha% A ir <oo an <e asi% +s ail ?hase i and Beh3ad Ba3yar% LShort Ter Water Absorption and Thickness Swelling Behaviour of Recycled Polyethylene Reinforced with Bagasse Flour%M Middle Ea&t 7ournal of Scientific +e&earch% vol" 495:% pp" 8C$D8CE% '@$$" ?ope P"C"% =er a .eepak% Shar a R"#" and &aheswari &"#% LBagasse Fiber Co posites G A Review%M 7. Mat. En6iron. Sci.% vol" )9H:% pp" $@C8D$@8'% '@$'" -lusegun .avid Sa uel% Stephen Agbo% Ti othy Adesoye Adekanye% LAssessing &echanical Properties of ,atural Fiber Reinforced Co posites for ;ngineering Applications%M 7ournal of Mineral& and Material& Characteri8ation and Engineering.% vol" $$% pp" C4@DC4E % &ay" '@$'" Seyed &a(id Nabih3adeh% LFle7ural Properties and -rthotropic Swelling Behaviour of BagasseKTher oplastic Co posites%M Bio +e&ource&.% vol" 5 9':% pp" H5@DHH@ % '@$@" Shinichi Shibata% L;ffects of For ing Processing Conditions on the Fle7ural Properties of Bagasse and Ba boo Plastic Co posites%M Bio +e&ource&.% vol" C 9E:% pp" 5)4$D5)8@ % '@$'" Peyvand .arabi% !oseph ?ril% &arie F" Thevenon% Ali ," #ari i and &"A3adfalah% L;valuation of <igh .ensity Polyethylene Co posite filled with Bagasse after Accelerated Weathering followed by Bio degradation%M Bio +e&ource&.% vol" C 9E:% pp" 5'54D5'HC % '@$'" Rahman Muhammad BOZLUR, Shinichi SIBATA, Siddiqua Farah DIBA and Magali UONO% LEffect of Holding Time and the Amount of Fiber Content and the Flexural Properties of Bagasse/Bamboo Fiber Reinforced Bio Degradable Composite %M in *roc. ,f #nternational Conference ,N En6ironmental %&pect& of Banglade&h. #CE%B1! D '@$@" A anda C"S"Pereira% Beatri3 R",ogueira% Anne C"Chinellato% Anibal ="Abreu Castillo% Ale(andra S"Teran and ;speridiana A"B" &oura% LCo parative Study on the &echanical Behavior of ;lectron Bea and ?a a +rradiated Bagasse FiberK<.P; Co posite%M in #nternational Nuclear %tlantic Conference. #N%C D '@$$" -vidiu +ulius Chiparus% LBagasse Fiber for Production of ,on Woven &aterials%M Ph". ;ng" thesis% B"S"% Technical /niversity L?h AsachiM% +asi% Ro ania% &ay" '@@E" Punyapriya &ishra% L;ffect of ;nviron ent on &echanical Properties of Bagasse Fiber Reinforced Poly er Co posite%M &" ;ng" thesis% ,ational +nstitute of Technology% Rourkela% +ndia% '@@C" Sura( #u ar &ehar% LWeathering Behavior of Bagasse Fiber Reinforced Poly er Co posites%M &" ;ng" thesis% ,ational +nstitute of Technology% Rourkela% +ndia% '@@8" Prakash Tudu% LProcessing and Characteri3ation of ,atural Fiber Reinforced Poly er Co posites%M &" ;ng" thesis% ,ational +nstitute of Technology% Rourkela% +ndia% '@@8" .ebabrata debnath% L&echanical Behavior of Bagasse Fiber ;po7y Co posites at 0i2uid ,itrogen Te perature%M &" ;ng" thesis% ,ational +nstitute of Technology% Rourkela% +ndia% '@@8"