Abstract

DIAZ-BATISTA, Daniel; DIAZ-FORCELLEDO, Daniel; MAZORRA-MESTRE, Marta  and  VALIN-RIVERA, José-Luis. Mechanical behavior of Cuban henequen fibers and interphase with thermoplastic polymers of the polyolefin family. Ingeniería Mecánica [online]. 2015, vol.18, n.3, pp.148-157. ISSN 1815-5944.

Incorporating fibers from agave fourcroydes, also named henequen, grown in Cuban farm conditions, into thermoplastic-matrix compositedesign took evaluating mechanical behavior of both the fiber and interphase with polymeric matrix candidates. Fibers from Limonar area in the province of Matanzas were tested, finding 500 MPa as typical tensile strength value. Statistical of fiber cross sectional area and perimeter to cross sectional area ratio is also showed. Fiber interaction with low density polyethylene yielded an interphase shear strength equal to 5.6 MPa but increased to 8.4 interacting with ethylene 1-hexene copolymer. For these experimental conditions, critical lengths of 8.1 millimeters and shorter were obtained. Are also presented both, an alternative to prepare pull-out test specimens and a device to evaluate them in a universal tensile testing machine.

Keywords : henequen; thermoplastic polymer; lignocellulosic fiber; interphase; pull-out test; composite material.

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