22: 4 (2022) 196-204 ISSN: 2084-6096

ISSN (online): 2299-128X

Rajat Rathore1, Saugata Bhattacharjee1, Prayas Bora1, Gorrepotu Surya Rao2

Sutanu Samanta1, Kishore Debnath2*
1 NorthEastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Itanagar-791109, India
2 National
Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shillong-793003, India
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [Link]@[Link]
Received (Otrzymano) 7.06.2022

EFFECT OF INJECTION PARAMETERS ON TENSILE AND FLEXURAL

PROPERTIES OF GREEN COMPOSITES
Natural fibres are used to develop green composites due to their environmentally friendly nature, ease of availability, low
cost, higher strength, as well as good thermal, acoustic, and insulating properties. In this study, jute fibre (JF) and sisal fibre
(SF) were considered as reinforcement and a biodegradable polymer, namely polylactic acid (PLA), was selected to fabricate
the composites by the injection moulding process. The fibres were chemically treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) at
a concentration of 2% to improve the characteristics of the fibre. The effect of the injection moulding parameters like injec-
tion pressure (bars), injection speed (mm/s), and melting temperature (°C) on the tensile and flexural properties of the sisal fibre/
polylactic acid (SF/PLA) and jute fibre/polylactic acid (JF/PLA) composites were investigated. Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array
was chosen for the design of experiments, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to find the significance and con-
tribution of the selected parameters. The optimum levels from the main plots of both the tensile and flexural strength
of the JF/PLA composite were found to be the injection pressure of 90 bars, injection speed of 60 mm/s, and injection temper-
ature of 165°C. Meanwhile, the optimum level of tensile strength for SF/PLA-based composite was recorded as the injection
pressure of 70 bars, injection speed of 40 mm/s, and temperature of 165°C. For the flexural strength, the optimum level was
determined as the injection pressure of 90 bars, injection speed of 60 mm/s, and temperature of 165°C.
Keywords: natural fibre, biodegradable polymer, green composites, injection moulding, mechanical properties

INTRODUCTION
The large-scale commercial applications of compos- other properties. Besides the many advantages of green
ites started during World War II with marine applica- composites, there are certain drawbacks such as (a)
tions for the military, but today, composite products are poor compatibility between the reinforcing natural fibre
manufactured by different industries including sport, and matrix, (b) the tendency of high moisture absorp-
aerospace, automotive, packaging, and structural appli- tion, (c) poor fire resistance, (d) low durability and im-
cations. Due to increased understanding of sustainable pact strength.
resources, significant efforts are being made to develop Young et al. [2] reported that bamboo fibre (BF) is
eco-friendly and biodegradable materials. Natural a suitable candidate that can be used as a reinforcement
fibres are less expensive, low in density and readily for the development of green composites. BF has been
available. Moreover, natural fibres are gaining more studied extensively for use as fabric or structural rein-
attention in a wide variety of industrial applications due forcement. The authors fabricated the composites by
to their multifunctional properties. The depletion of converting the bamboo strips into fibre bundles.
natural resources and increasing environmental aware- The alkali treated BF was delignified adequately at
ness have resulted in the development of green com- 100°C for 12 hours. Morales et al. [3] used a BF/PLA
posites for various applications. The increasing use of composite for structural applications. Bamboo strips
natural fibres in composites has resulted in a reduction were glued together using a natural thermoplastic
of greenhouse emissions and carbon footprint. (PLA) to fulfil the biodegradability standards. The
Gholampour and Ozbakkaloglu [1] presented a re- extraction of bamboo strips is inexpensive and also has
view based on 322 studies published since 1978. The no harmful effect on the environment. The characteris-
research discussed the growing need for eco-friendly tics of the composite were further studied under ageing
materials in many applications and provided an up-to- conditions to confirm its structural uses. The developed
-date review on natural fibre and resin types as well as material met the criteria for sufficient mechanical quali-
sources, processing techniques, physical and mechani- ties and life cycle costs in the energy and automotive
cal behaviours, applications, life-cycle assessment, and industries.
 Effect of injection parameters on tensile and flexural properties of green composites 197

Ma and Joo [4] fabricated green composites based properties of a PP fabric/PP composite. The optimum
on jute fibre (JF) and PLA by the film-stacking process. injection conditions were determined as 260ºC (barrel
The impact of the fibre content, processing tempera- temperature), 127.6 MPa (injection pressure), 0.18 m/s
ture, and alkali treatment on the structural and me- (injection speed), and 60 s (holding time) to achieve the
chanical characteristics was studied. The interfacial maximum tensile strength of 120 MPa. Sasimowski et
structure between JF and PLA was also studied using al. [10] evaluated the mechanical properties of an
SEM. The JF/PLA composites with 15 wt.% fibre and injection moulded wheat bran/PBS biocomposite. The
produced at the temperature of 210°C had the best ten- maximum tensile strength, tensile modulus, and elonga-
sile properties, whereas the maximum flexural proper- tion of the biocomposite were recorded as 31.96±
ties were reached using the production temperature of ±0.05 MPa, 830±3, and 26.6±7.4%. The authors no-
220°C and 15 wt.% JF. The crystallinity of JF after ticed high densities in the injection-moulded samples as
alkali treatment shifted from Cellulose I to Cellulose II, compared to the raw polymer owing to the high injec-
which was observed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analy- tion pressure and cooling rate. Cao et al. [11] studied
sis. The tensile modulus of JF and JF/PLA composites the effect of injection parameters on the mechanical
was enhanced by 29 and 76%, respectively. Arao et al. properties of a bagasse/PP-PCL composite. The opti-
[5] investigated the properties of green composites mum conditions to attain the maximum flexural
based on JF and PLA. strength were the mould temperature of 90ºC, cooling
A long fibre pellet was designed to achieve a high time 30 s, and melting temperature 165ºC. The authors
aspect ratio of the residual fibres after injection mould- reported that the properties deteriorated with the cylin-
ing. Shorter fibre pellets were produced by different der temperature because of thermal degradation of the
screw configurations utilizing a twin-screw extruder. bagasse fibre. Mohamed et al. [12] studied the effect of
The fibre shape, dispersion condition, and fibre fracture the injection temperature, injection speed, and screw
surfaces were investigated after tensile testing. speed on the properties of a flax/HDPE composite.
The short fibre pellet composites having a high com- It was reported that the maximum strength can be
pound intensity had the best mechanical properties. achieved by maintaining a high injection speed and
Compounding using a twin-screw extruder reduced the screw speed with a low melting temperature.
overall aspect ratio of the residual fibres, which consid- Hussain et al. [13] studied the effect of chemical
erably aided both the jute yarn dispersion and jute bun- treatment on the properties of coconut fibre (CF)/HDPE
dle decohesion into elementary fibres. In addition, high composite by considering the fibre weight fraction and
intensity mixing promoted fibre separation, resulting in fibre length. The optimum levels for tensile and flex-
efficient load transmission from the matrix to the fibre ural strength were registered as (a) 40% fibre weight
and enhanced the interfacial strength. and 3 mm fibre length, (b) 30% fibre weight and 6 mm
Samouh et al. [6] studied the mechanical, thermal, fibre length. Fracz et al. [14] investigated the effect of
and dynamic mechanical properties of biocomposites. alkali treatment on the properties of a flax fiber
The biocomposites were extruded and then injection (FF)/hemp fiber (HF)/PHBV composite. The authors
moulded with varying amounts of sisal fibres (SF) noticed a reduction in the diameters of the flax and
(5, 10, and 15 wt.%) and bio-sourced polymer PLA. hemp fibres as a consequence of chemical treatment. It
The findings reveal that increasing the weight percent- was also reported that it is difficult to finalize the
age of reinforcement enhances the characteristics of chemical concentration for flax fibre. Balaji et al. [15]
biocomposites. The degree of crystallinity of the matrix studied the properties of an injection-moulded sugar-
was enhanced from 47 to 61% due to an increase in the cane bagasse (SB)/cardanol resin biocomposite.
fibre content as the fibre (sisal) worked as a nucleating The chemical treatment reduced the hydrophilic nature
agent for PLA. Kassegn et al. [7] fabricated a fully bio- of fibre, which resulted in an increase in the surface
degradable short SF/PLA composite using an injection area of the fibre. An NaOH treated bagasse fibre of
moulding process. The weight fractions of the used a 10-mm length exhibited a peak tensile strength
fibre and matrix were 15 and 85 wt.%, respectively. of 28 MPa. Manjula et al. [16] studied the properties of
A tensile strength of 44.23 MPa, strain at failure of coir fibre after chemical treatment (NaOH) for 2 h.
1.57%, and an elastic modulus of 4.32 GPa were The treatment increased the stability of the fibre by
recorded during the investigations. The properties removing the impurities on the fibre surface; as a result,
attained under flexural loading were a flexural strength enhancement of the tensile properties was noticed.
of 74.98 MPa, strain at failure of 2.7%, and a flexural Campos et al. [17] researched the mechanical proper-
modulus of 3.29 GPa. Radzi et al. [8] studied the me- ties of a starch cellulose acetate/PLA composite using
chanical properties of a kenaf fiber (KF)/PP composite different fibre contents and chemical treatment. A ten-
by optimizing the injection moulding parameters. sile strength and tensile modulus of 70 MPa and 6 GPa
The optimum parameters to achieve better mecha- were obtained with 30 wt.% treated cellulose fibre.
nical properties were 190ºC (injection temperature), It is clear from the above literature survey that the
1300 bars (injection pressure), 1900 bars (holding pres- mechanical properties of JF/PLA and SF/PLA compos-
sure), and 20 cm3/s (injection speed). Wang et al. [9] ites have not been thoroughly studied. The effect of
studied the injection parameters affecting the tensile the injection moulding process parameters on the prop-
Composites Theory and Practice 22: 4 (2022) All rights reserved
198 R. Rathore, S. Bhattacharjee, P. Bora, G.S. Rao, S. Samanta, K. Debnath

erties of JF/PLA and SF/PLA composites has not Alkaline treatment of fibre
extensively investigated either.. Thus, in this study the Alkaline treatment, also known as mercerization,
mercerization is
effect of the injection parameters on the tensile and a chemical treatment process where natural fibres are
flexural properties of JF/PLA and SF/PLA composites immersed in a known concentration of an aqueous
was investigated. ANOVA was performed to find the sodium hydroxide (NaOH) H) solution for a specific
significance and contribution of the injection moulding duration. The alkaline treatment strengthens the fibres
parameters. by removing a certain amount of hemicellulose, lignin,
wax, and oils that often cover the surface of natural
fibres [18]. The partially removed lignin, hemicellu-
hemicell
METHODOLOGY lose, and waxax improve the bonding characteristics of
Materials used the fibres. Alkaline
lkaline treatment also increases the fibre
density by removing non-cellulosic
cellulosic components that
Bio-resourced
resourced jute fiber (JF) and sisal fibre (SF) are less dense. During the alkaline treatment, the sur-su
were selectedas the reinforcements and were supplied face roughness of the fibre is improved,
improved which in-
by Vruksha Composites Pvt. Ltd., India (Fig. 1). Both creases the surface area and subsequently improves
improve the
JF and SF are inexpensive, low in density, possess ex-
e wetting characteristics.. In addition, the treatment modi-
mod
cellent strength and tensile modulus, pose minimal fies the crystallinity and unit cell structure of natural
health risks and have renewable characteristics. PLA is fibres [19]. The crystallinity of cellulose is increased
a compostable bioplastic derived from plant sugar,sugar owing to alkali treatment. Overall,
Overall the alkaline treat-
often corn starch, cassava, and sugar cane,
cane and was ment of natural fibres enhances the mechanical per- pe
chosen as the matrix material. The PLA used in this formance of the resultant composite by improving the
study was supplied by Natur Tec India Pvt. Ltd. stress transfer between the fibre and matrix. After
The melting temperature of the PLA is in the range of the alkali treatment, the fibres are washed using
145-180°C and its density is 1.24 g/cm3. The sodium distilled water to neutralize the reaction. In this work,
hydroxide was provided by Greenergy Lab Chemicals, the treatment was done in two steps as shown in
India. Figure 2.
Step 1 consisted in detergent washing of the fibres
a) a) (10 gm of detergent in 21 l of water): (a) immersing the
fibres in the detergent solution
solu for 20 minutes,
(b)) washing the fibre with clean water, and (c) drying
the fibre at room temperature. Step 2 involved NaOH
treatment of the fibre (the 0.5 NaOH solution was pre- pr
pared by adding 20 gm of NaOH pellets in 1 L of
distilled water): (a) soaking the fibre in the solution for
4 hours, (b)) washing the fibre with distilled water,
Fig. 1. Natural fibres (a) sisal fibre (SF) and (b) jute fibre (JF) (c) drying at room temperature, and (d) cutting the fibre
to the desired length of 4 mm.

Fig. 2. Processing of chosen natural fibres

Composites Theory and Practice 22: 4 (2022) All rights reserved

 Effect of injection parameters on tensile and flexural properties of green composites 199

Composite fabrication and mechanical testing tion speed, and injection temperature selected for this
The injection moulding process was employed to experiment are presented in Table 1. All the produced
fabricate the SF/PLA and JF/PLA green composites. specimens and their properties are presented in Tables
The composites were developed by using fibres 4 mm 2 and 3, respectively.
in length and a 10 wt.% fibre content. The specimens
TABLE 1. L9 orthogonal array according to Taguchi method
were fabricated according to (a) ASTM D638 for ten-
sile testing and (b) ASTM D790 for flexural testing. Run Injection Injection speed Injection
The steps involved in fabricating the green composites No. pressure [bars] [mm/s] temperature [°C]
were (a) heating the PLA pellets to remove moisture, 1 70 40 165
(b) mixing the PLA pellets and natural fibre (10 gm of 2 70 50 175
fibre was mixed with 100 gm of PLA pellets), (c) feed- 3 70 60 185
ing the fibre-polymer mixture into the hopper, and 4 90 40 175
(d) setting the injection moulding parameters according 5 90 50 185
to the design of experiments. The injection moulding
6 90 60 165
machine ( Electronica E50 Servo, India) used to fabri-
7 110 40 185
cate the composite specimens is shown in Figure 3.
8 110 50 165
A universal testing machine (Unitek 9450, India) was
used to perform uniaxial tensile testing and three-point 9 110 60 175
bending testing. The test speed was maintained at
2 mm/min. TABLE 2. Mechanical properties of JF/PLA composites
Specimen TS TM FS FM
No. [MPa] [GPa] [MPa] [GPa]
1 31.47 0.9 80.74 6.37
2 26.02 1.48 76.12 6.11
3 40.84 1.76 144.17 8.05
4 31.83 1.56 122.83 6.8
5 33.02 0.85 117.07 6.57
6 44.01 1.89 143.02 8.02
7 29.33 1.5 131.49 7.57
8 28.83 1.27 76.70 6.12
9 38.57 1.73 131.49 7.64

TABLE 3. Mechanical properties of SF/PLA composites

Fig. 3. Injection moulding machine used to fabricate the test specimens Specimen TS TM FS FM
No. [MPa] [GPa] [MPa] [GPa]
1 45.56 4.16 144.18 8.34
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 2 37.91 2.3 117.07 7.89
3 17.40 1.58 96.89 7.42
The Taguchi method was used for the purpose of
4 29.52 2.69 131.49 7.64
designing the experiments. The design of the experi-
ments (DOE) was generated using Minitab software. 5 10.82 0.98 94.58 7.46
The main factors (injection pressure, injection speed, 6 25.22 3.46 190.31 8.78
and injection temperature) and their levels, which affect 7 24.99 2.92 95.96 7.96
the mechanical properties of an injection-moulded 8 43.88 4.01 163.21 8.6
composite, were studied and selected. A low injection 9 26.44 2.14 140.14 7.79
pressure and speed result in a poor surface finish, void
formation, and warpage. On the other hand, a high in-
jection pressure and speed may cause flash formation. Mechanical properties of JF/PLA composite
Thus, the range of these two parameters was judi- The mechanical properties of the JF/PLA compos-
ciously selected. The melting temperature of the chosen ites were evaluated, which showed that the tensile
PLA is 165°C. Therefore, an injection temperature strength is in the range of 26.02 to 44.01 MPa, whereas
above the melting temperature of PLA was selected. the tensile modulus is in the range of 0.85 to 1.89 GPa.
A low injection temperature may cause inadequate The highest tensile strength was 44.01 MPa, which was
bonding between the fibre and polymer and a poor sur- obtained at an injection pressure of 90 bars, injection
face finish. In contrast, a high injection temperature speed of 60 mm/s, and injection temperature of 165°C.
may cause voids to form in the moulded sample. The The specimen having the highest modulus of 1.89 GPa
injection parameters, i.e. the injection pressure, injec- was also obtained under the same injection conditions.

Composites Theory and Practice 22: 4 (2022) All rights reserved

200 R. Rathore, S. Bhattacharjee, P. Bora, G.S. Rao, S. Samanta, K. Debnath

The flexural strength of the JF/PLA composites was in jection pressure and temperature were found to be in-
the range of 76.12 to 144.17 MPa. The highest flexural significant because of the higher statistical p-values.
strength of 144.17 MPa was obtained at 70 bars, The fibre dispersion in the polymer was quite uniform,
60 mm/s, and 185°C. The flexural modulus was in the which improved the tensile properties of the JF/PLA
range of 6.11 to 8.05 GPa. The specimen had the high- composite at the higher injection speed. A further in-
est flexural modulus of 8.05 GPa. It can be inferred that crement in the injection temperature degraded the ten-
at the injection speed of 60 mm/sec, the tensile and sile properties of the JF/PLA composite due to thermal
flexural properties of the JF/PLA composite are the degradation of the fibre. The optimum level for flexural
maximum. strength was ascertained as the injection pressure of
The properties of the JF/PLA composite were ana- 90 bars, injection speed of 60 mm/s, and temperature of
lysed using ANOVA considering a 95% confidence 165°C. Meanwhile, all the process parameters were
level. The larger-is-better characteristic was selected to found to be significant for the flexural strength of the
find the significance and contribution of the process JF/PLA composite. The p-values of the injection pres-
parameters. The main effect plot of the tensile and sure, injection speed, and temperature were 0.017,
flexural strength of the JF/PLA composite is presented 0.023, and 0.042. The p-values are less than 0.05 for all
in Figure 4. The optimal level for tensile strength from the process parameters. The injection pressure contrib-
the means plot was found to be the injection pressure of uted more than 46%, followed by the injection speed
90 bars, injection speed of 60 mm/s, and temperature of and temperature as 34.06 and 18.45%. Figure 5 pre-
165°C. The sum of squares, F-value, p-value, and % sents the contribution of the processing parameters of
contribution of the process parameters of the JF/PLA the JF/PLA composite. All the process parameters
composite are shown in Tables 4 and 5. For the tensile played a vital role to achieve superior flexural proper-
strength, the p-values for the injection pressure, injec- ties. The fibre-matrix interfacial bonding was good at
tion speed, and temperature were 0.074, 0.009, and the optimum level. Table 6 shows the model summary
0.159. Among the process parameters, injection speed of the tensile and flexural strength of the JF/PLA com-
was significant as the p-value is less than 0.05. The posite. The R-sq. values for the tensile and flexural
injection speed contributed more (85.11%) as compared strength were quite high as 99.21 and 99.20%. This
to the injection pressure and temperature. Both the in- indicates that the data fit well the statistical model.

a) Main Effects Plot for SN ratios b) Main Effects Plot for Means
Data Means Data Means
Injection Pressure Speed Temparature Injection Pressure Speed Temparature
32.5 42

32.0 40
Mean of SN ratios

31.5
Mean of Means

38

31.0
36
30.5
34
30.0

32
29.5

30
29.0
70 90 110 40 50 60 165 175 185
70 90 110 40 50 60 165 175 185
Signal-to-noise: Larger is better

c) Main Effects Plot for SN ratios d) Main Effects Plot for Means
Data Means Data Means
Injection Pressure Speed Temparature Injection Pressure Speed Temparature
42.5 130

42.0

120
Mean of SN ratios

41.5
Mean of Means

41.0
110
40.5

40.0
100
39.5

39.0
90
70 90 110 40 50 60 165 175 185
70 90 110 40 50 60 165 175 185
Signal-to-noise: Larger is better

Fig. 4. Main effect plots of JF/PLA composite tensile strength (a-b) and flexural strength (c-d)

Composites Theory and Practice 22: 4 (2022) All rights reserved

 Effect of injection parameters on tensile and flexural properties of green composites
composites 201

TABLE 4. ANOVA of tensile strength for JF/PLA composite

Source D.F. Adj. S.S. Adj. M.S. F-Value p-Value % Contribution
Pressure 2 28.953 14.477 12.59 0.074 9.92
Speed 2 248.276 124.138 107.93 0.009 85.11
Temperature 2 12.149 6.074 5.28 0.159 4.16
Error 2 2.300 1.150

TABLE 5. ANOVA of flexural strength for JF/PLA composite

Source D.F. Adj. S.S. Adj. M.S. F-Value p-Value % Contribution
Pressure 2 2406.90 1203.45 58.27 0.017 46.68
Speed 2 1756.33 878.17 42.52 0.023 34.06
Temperature 2 951.27 475.64 23.03 0.042 18.45
Error 2 41.30 20.65

TABLE 6. Model summary of JF/PLA composite

Properties S R-sq. R-sq. (adj.)

TS 1.07246 99.21% 96.85%

TM 4.54439 99.20% 96.80%

a) b)

Fig. 5. Contribution of injection parameters on tensile (a) and flexural strength (b) of JF/PLA composite

Mechanical properties of SF/PLA composite The flexural properties are maximum at the injec-inje
tion speed of 60 mm/s, injection pressure
p of 90 bars,
The maximum tensile strength and tensile modulus and injection temperature of 165°C. Injection tempera-
temper
of the SF/PLA composite were obtained as 45.56 MPa ture is an important factor that decides
decide the bonding
and 4.16 GPa, whereas
hereas the maximum flexural strength between the fibre and matrix. Also, the melting of the
and flexural modulus of the SF/PLA composite were matrix and the flow of the fibre-matrix
fibre mixture into the
190.31 MPa and 8.78 GPa. It can be inferred that mould depends on the injection temperature. The melt- mel
the tensile
sile properties of the SF/PLA composite are the ing and flow of the material increases with the tempera-
temper
maximum at the injection temperature of 165°C. ture, which deteriorate the fibre-matrix
fibre interfacial
The properties deteriorated as the temperature is further bonding.
ing. Therefore, in the case of the SF/PLA compos-
increased. It implies that injection temperature is the ite, at the low injection temperature of 165°C the
most influencing factor among the chosen parameters.
param specimens showed good properties. The main plot
The tensile properties also deteriorated as the injection curves of the tensile and flexural strength of the
speed is increased to 60 mm/s and injection pressure to SF/PLA composite are shown in Figure Fig 6. The opti-
110 bar. Similarly, it can be inferred that at the mum level for tensile strength from the main plots was
injection temperature of 165°C, the flexural properties the combination of injection pressure of 70 bar, injec-
inje
of SF/PLA are the maximum. The properties declined tion speed of 40 mm/sec, and temperature of 165°C.
as the temperature is further increased. This indicates For flexural strength, the optimum level was found to
that injection temperature is the most influencing factor be the injection pressure of 90 bar, injection speed of
affecting the flexural properties. 60 mm/sec, and temperature of 165°C.
Composites Theory and Practice 22: 4 (2022) All rights reserved
202 R. Rathore, S. Bhattacharjee, P. Bora, G.S. Rao, S. Samanta, K. Debnath

The ANOVA results for the tensile and flexural shearing effect of sisal fibre at the lower injection pres-
strength of the SF/PLA composite are presented in Ta- sure of 70 bar, which resulted in achieving better
bles 7 and 8. The p-values of the injection pressure, tensile strength. The higher melting temperature caused
injection speed, and melting temperature for the tensile thermal degradation of the sisal fibre. The melting tem-
strength of the SF/PLA composite were 0.044, 0.059, perature is the most influential parameter affecting the
and 0.017. This shows that the injection pressure and flexural strength as its p-value is less than 0.05.
melting temperature are the most influencing parame- The melting temperature had a percentage contribution
ters to attain the maximum tensile strength. of 84.53%.
The contribution of the melting temperature The contribution of the process parameters is
(60.45%) was the greatest, followed by the injection graphically represented in Figure 7. The R-sq. values
pressure (22.30%) and injection speed (16.21%). The for the tensile and flexural strength of the SF/PLA
fibre was well dispersed in the polymer because of the composite are shown in Table 9.

a) Main Effects Plot for Means b) Main Effects Plot for SN ratios
Data Means Data Means
Injection Pressure Speed Temparature Injection Pressure Speed Temparature
40 32

31

35 30

Mean of SN ratios
Mean of Means

29
30
28

27
25
26

25
20
24
70 90 110 40 50 60 165 175 185
70 90 110 40 50 60 165 175 185
Signal-to-noise: Larger is better

c) Main Effects Plot for SN ratios d) Main Effects Plot for Means
Data Means Data Means
Injection Pressure Speed Temparature Injection Pressure Speed Temparature
45 170

160
44
Mean of SN ratios

150
Mean of Means

43
140

42
130

41 120

110
40

100
39
70 90 110 40 50 60 165 175 185 90
70 90 110 40 50 60 165 175 185
Signal-to-noise: Larger is better

Fig. 6. Main effect plots of SF/PLA composite tensile strength (a-b) and flexural strength (c-d)

TABLE 7. ANOVA of tensile strength for SF/PLA composite

Source D.F. Adj. S.S. Adj. M.S. F-Value p-Value % Contribution

Pressure 2 240.31 120.154 21.86 0.044 22.30
Speed 2 174.65 87.326 15.89 0.059 16.21
Temperature 2 651.28 325.642 59.24 0.017 60.45
Error 2 10.99 5.497

TABLE 8. ANOVA of flexural strength for SF/PLA composite

Source D.F. Adj. S.S. Adj. M.S. F-Value p-Value % Contribution
Pressure 2 597.58 298.79 6.00 0.143 6.85
Speed 2 652.02 326.01 6.55 0.133 7.47
Temperature 2 7372.23 3686.12 74.02 0.013 84.53
Error 2 99.60 49.80

Composites Theory and Practice 22: 4 (2022) All rights reserved

 Effect of injection parameters on tensile and flexural properties of green composites
composites 203

TABLE 9. Model summary of SF/PLA

F/PLA composite
Properties S R-sq. R-sq. (adj.)
TS 2.345 99.00% 95.9%
TM 7.057 98.90% 95.4%

a) b)

Fig. 7. Contribution of injection parameters on tensile (a) and flexural strength (b) of SF/PLA composite

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