Properties of natural fiber composites made by pultrusion process

Abstract

Great efforts are being made at Brunel University, UK in attempt to develop natural fiber composites with desired structure and good overall properties for construction. This work focuses on the mechanical and morphological characterization of the pultruded composite rods made from hemp and wool fiber reinforcements. The results showed that the composite using polyurethane resin system has higher specific tensile and compressive strength as well as the Young's and compressive moduli compared with the polyester and vinyl ester composites, while the polyester composite exhibits better flexural strength. The SEM observation of the cross section and layered polyester and polyurethane composites has found defects on the interface of fibers and resin matrix. It is also revealed that fibers are not evenly distributed in the composites and more resin aggregates in areas close to rod surface. Meanwhile, voids have been noticed existing in both composites, but more of them are found in the polyurethane-matrix rod, which correlated to the higher water absorption for this composite.