Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Mechanical and thermal insulation properties of surface-modified Agave

Americana/carbon fibre hybrid reinforced epoxy composites
S.P. Jani a,⇑, S. Sajith b, C. Rajaganapathy c, M. Adam Khan d
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Marri Laxman Reddy Institute of Technology and Management, Hyderabad 500043, India
b
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai, India
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government College of Engineering Srirangam, Trichy 620012, Tamilnadu, India
d
International Research Centre (IRC), Kalasalingam University, Krishnankoil, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this present scenario, most materials and manufacturing processes were affected by the environment.
Received 4 May 2020 Due to this reason industries need eco-friendly materials and manufacturing processes. The present
Received in revised form 23 June 2020 experimental studies are thermal and automated conduct of hybrid natural fiber-strengthened aggre-
Accepted 9 July 2020
gates. 7.5 wt% and 10 wt% alkali-treated Agave Americana fibres are used. A small amount of carbon fiber
Available online xxxx
is added to the purpose of hybridization. The hybrid composites are fabricated by means of a
Compression casting device. After that, by means of Universal testing machine (UTM), the experiment
Keywords:
is performed to discover the flexural strength and Tensile strength respectively. The TGA, DTA, and ther-
Thermal conductivity
Alkali treatment
mal conductivity (thermal insulation) of the composites were analyzed. The results are compared
Agave Americana fibre between 7.5% and 10% alkali-treated Agave Americana fiber-reinforced composite. In order to save energy
Hybrid composite by reducing the rate of heat transfer for industrial applications, insulation materials, building and auto-
motive industry, it is presumed that Agave Americana fiber treatments will aid the improvement of syn-
thetic fibre reinforced sandwich polymer composites.
Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
ence on Newer Trends and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering: Materials Science.

1. Introduction properties (retting, foiling, blenching, gyrating, etc.) are affected,

and through their combination into aggregates: managing, impreg-
In the contemporary years, owing to the development of ecolog- nation, and amalgamation will familiarize additional variations [5].
ical anxieties, the natural fibre aggregates have revealed a progres- The aggregates’ properties rely on the milieu, fibres, and their
sion of interest as a result of their reprocessing and decomposable interfacial attachment. In composite materials, the bond amid the
abilities. Due to its accessibility of indigenous manual workers and strengthening fibres and the matrix plays a significant part in the
biodegradable material in nature, matural fibres can be acquired at resources [1]. In composite materials, on account of unsuitability,
a low cost. Natural fibres are freely accessible in huge amounts in numerous difficulties befall at the boundary when natural fibre is
several nations and they signify an incessant sustainable viable made use of as strengthening [6]. Alkali and acetylation handling
source [1]. The explicit stuffs of natural fibre compound are its procedures are economical and are extensively utilized to enhance
flimsiness, inexpensiveness, renewable nature, extraordinary pre- natural fibre exterior properties [7]. Gupta et al. have made an
cise strength and it is modulus [2,3]. On the other hand, natural additional examination which specified that augmentation in duc-
fibres display certain unwanted individualities like high dampness tile and flexural métiers were recorded at 40 wt% of sisal/hemp
suction and less thermal opposition too [4]. The physical, chemical fiber composite. The augmentation in the mass proportion of fiber
and mechanical properties of vegetal fibres are intensely harvested composite enhanced the rigidity strength of the aggregates [8]. In
reliant, prejudiced by weather, locality, soil characteristics, meteo- an additional intensive examination of such kind, the outcome of
rological conditions, etc. Besides, through fibre processing, the treatment of alkali on the mechanical properties of an interlaced
sisal fabric strengthened epoxy compound contrived at 40% fiber
mass section was assessed by Bichang’ a Wambua et al,. The team
⇑ Corresponding author.
concluded that the mechanical properties of the resultant
E-mail address: [email protected] (S.P. Jani).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.07.180
2214-7853/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Newer Trends and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering:
Materials Science.

Please cite this article as: S. P. Jani, S. Sajith, C. Rajaganapathy et al., Mechanical and thermal insulation properties of surface-modified Agave Ameri-
cana/carbon fibre hybrid reinforced epoxy composites, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.07.180
2 S.P. Jani et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

compound were enhanced at the time of chemical treatment of Table 2

sisal fabric with 4% (w/v) sodium hydroxide solution for 1 h at nor- Chemical composition of raw Agave
Americana fibre [14].
mal temperature [9]. Moreover, Samuel, et al., (2012) revealed that
by means of alkali treatment of the fibers, the mechanical proper- Chemical Composition wt.%
ties of ukam and sisal fiber strengthened aggregates were signifi- Cellulose 68.42
cantly prejudiced [10]. The alkali-treated raffia natural fibre Lignin 4.85
composite; the extent of the thermal conductivity has demon- Hemicelluloses 15.67
Wax content 0.26
strated that it declines the thermal conductivity of the aggregates Moisture content 7.69
[11]. Density 1.20
Jacob et al. [19] surveyed the consequence of NaOH concentra-
tion (0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 10%) for treating sisal fiber-reinforced compos-
ites and resolved that maximum tensile strength was ensued from two diverse amalgamations, 7.5 wt% and 10 wt%. The fiber is
the 4% NaOH treatment at room temperature. Mishra et al. [20] dipped in NaOH treatment for 12 h at room temperature [15].
stated that a better tensile strength was observed when sisal The treated fiber is then cleaned in ordinary water and parched
fiber-reinforced polyester composite was treated with 5% NaOH in sunlight for two days. The aim of NaOH treatment is to eradicate
than 10% NaOH treated composites. This is due to the occurrence lignin, wax and hemicellulose. It cleanses the outer surface of the
of additional delignification of natural fiber at higher alkali concen- natural fiber and it’s giving more strength. Fig. 1 displays the pre-
tration, bringing about a weaker or impaired fiber. After certain served Agave Americana fibre.
optimal NaOH concentration, the tensile strength of the composite
declined extremely. NaOH treated fibre gives good insulation prop-
2.4. FRP composites preparation
erty for more wt%.
The intention of the current investigation is to improve hybrid
By means of the compression molding process, the hybrid nat-
natural fibre compound from Agave Americana/carbon fibre. Agave
ural fibre/epoxy composites were made. The molded plates were
Americana, a juicy plant of a large plant genre of the identical
rubbed with car polish wax to act as a releasing agent. The pro-
name, belongs to the family of Agavaceae. First and foremost they
posed fibre epoxy ratio is there in Table 3. The established sand-
were found in Mexican. They are also found in Asia, North America,
wich panel layers are exposed to 35 to 40 psi pressure for 12 h in
and in central and tropical South America. In India, it exists in the
the course of compression [16]. The orientation of the fibre was
wild. The key intention of this work is to examine the mechanical
retained unceasing (0°/90°) and the thickness of the hybrid com-
and thermal performances of 7.5 wt% & 10 wt% alkali-treated
posite attained was just about 4 mm. The prearrangement of fibre
Agave Americana/carbon fibre reinforced hybrid epoxy
layers are exhibited in Fig. 2. In the course of composite produc-
composites.
tion, the araldite and hardener are combined with predefined ratio.
To evade air boils/blowholes at the time of curing, the mechanical
2. Materials and method agitator is used.

2.1. Reinforcement and matrix materials

2.5. Flexural and tensile testing

In this current effort, Agave Americana and carbon were made

To discover flexural strength, rigidity and letdown strain of
use of as incessant fiber reinforcements. Table 1 enumerates the
aggregates, the 3 point bending test was led in the KIC-2-1000-C
mechanical properties of the interlaced carbon fibre. A blend of
UTM (universal testing machine) with a load cell capacity of max-
araldite gunk LY536 and toughening agent HY951 in 10:1 bulk pro-
imum 100 KN. A crosshead velocity of 3 mm/min was retained for
portion was exploited for the matrix stage [12].
all samples. The samples were prepared as per ASTM D790. The
tensile examination also was conducted on 7.5 wt% and 10 wt%
2.2. Mining of Agave Americana fiber NaOH treated natural fibre composite. The samples were prepared
as per ASTM D638 standards. The test was done by KIC-2-1000-C
The developed Agave Americana plants are yanked, the leaves UTM. A crosshead velocity of 5 mm/min was retained for all sam-
are collected and before beginning the mining progression, the ples. A gage length of 180 mm was retained while 70 mm was
thorns on the brim of the leaves were cropped. The cropped leaves made accessible for the gripping area.
are then cut till the fiber is mined. Then the mined fibers were
cleaned and groomed to allow the surface exhaustively. Then the
2.6. Thermogravimetric analysis
cleaned mined fibers are parched at normal temperature for two
to three days. The chemical combinations of Agave Americana
Thermogravimetric analysis is the fortitude of molecular wors-
are displayed in below (Table 2).
ening, i.e., the weight loss because of high temperature. The sample
was taken in pounded form and was examined in a TGA tester. TGA
2.3. NaOH surface treatment of Agave Americana fibre
Measurements are made use of predominantly to conclude the
composition of materials and to envisage their thermal constancy
The mined Agave Americana fiber is chemically canned by
up to a temperature of 800 °C (°C) at a boiling rate of 10 °C per min-
sodium hydroxide. This fiber is canned with sodium hydroxide in
ute (°C/min). The weight reduction or gain owing to rottenness,
Table 1 oxidation, or dehydration which the materials exhibit can be char-
Mechanical properties of carbon fibre acteristized by this procedure.
[13].

Property Values 2.7. Differential thermal analysis

Young’s Modulus (GPa) 250
Strength (GPa) 2.21 Under air ambiance, the differential thermal analysis (DTA)
Strain to failure (%) 0.6 examination was performed at a DTA apparatus, in a temperature
Density (g/cm3) 1.60
range of 0 °C (°C) to 800 °C (°C) at a heating rate of 10 °C per min-

Please cite this article as: S. P. Jani, S. Sajith, C. Rajaganapathy et al., Mechanical and thermal insulation properties of surface-modified Agave Ameri-
cana/carbon fibre hybrid reinforced epoxy composites, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.07.180
 S.P. Jani et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx 3

Fig. 1. Agave Americana fibre.

Table 3 steam chamber with inlet and outlet was positioned above. The
Various FRP sample IDs for prepared samples with their compositions. provided bad conductor was positioned amid them. To find out
Sample ID Agave Americana Carbon wt. % Matrix wt. % the temperatures of A and B, two thermometers T1 and T2 were
NaOH Treated % wt. %
put in correspondingly. Until the temperature of the steam cham-
ber and metallic disc were steady, steam from the boiler was
SP-1 7.5 24 6 70
SP-2 10 24 6 70
passed in to the steam chamber. The steady temperature of the
metallic disc and steam chambers documented by the thermome-
ter were marked. The bad conductor was detached at this time and
the steam chamber was positioned in straight connection with the
metallic disc. The temperature of the disc was found to be increas-

Fig. 2. Proposed design.

ute (°C/min). About 5 mg of the composites were positioned in an

alumina cauldron, and the temperature variance amid the speci-
men and the reference cauldron was documented.

2.8. Thermal conductivity measurement

The lee’s disc gadget comprises of a two brass metal disc A and Fig. 4. Stress vs Strain curve under tensile loading condition.
B horizontally held by three strings from the stand. A resonating

Fig. 3. Tensile test specimens (after testing).

Please cite this article as: S. P. Jani, S. Sajith, C. Rajaganapathy et al., Mechanical and thermal insulation properties of surface-modified Agave Ameri-
cana/carbon fibre hybrid reinforced epoxy composites, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.07.180
4 S.P. Jani et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

ing swiftly. When the temperature of the disc increased about exposes the cellulose part of the fibre. This enhances the fibre/
10 °C (°C) above stable temperature of the metallic disc, the steam epoxy interaction which results in better strength and stability.
chamber was detached prudently, after blocking off the steam sup- The enhancement in mechanical properties due to hydrogen bond-
ply. When the temperature of the disc attained 5 °C (°C), the steady ing which is the major fibre/epoxy interaction was well docu-
temperature of the disc would twitch. A stop clock was in progress mented by Sajith (2019) [17].
and time for every 1 °C (°C) decline of temperature was marked till Higher cellulose exposure would result in higher hydrogen
the temperature was attained in metallic disc. The diameter (d) of bond density and thus resulted in higher strain to failure. In tensile
disc was 14 cm and thickness was (h) 4 mm. loading condition fibre takes most of the load while the fibre/ma-
trix interaction distributes the load to different layers and also acts
MS dh dðr þ 2hÞ
ThermalConductivity ¼ dt
ð1Þ against micro failure initiation thereby delaying the failure. This is
pr2 ðh1  h2 Þð2r þ 2hÞ the reason that 10% NaOH treated FRP showed better strain to fail-
where, ure while maintaining the strength.

M = Mass of metallic disc 3.2. Flexural test

S = Specific heat capacity of the metallic disc
h = Temperature The flexural test specimens are shown in Fig. 6 that there is no
h = thickness of specimen. significant change in the flexural properties of FRPs due to the
treatment of fibres with NaOH as in Fig. 7. Under flexural loading
3. Result and discussion condition, impregnation of fibre by matrix is the factor that con-
trols the load carrying ability of the FRP. Sufficient impregnation
3.1. Tensile test means that the FRP exhibits better strength and stiffness. Insuffi-
cient impregnation results in poor load carrying capacity of the
The tensile test specimens are shown in Fig. 3 that FRP made of FRP which also fails easily. However presence of too much resin
fibre treated with 10% NaOH withstood comparatively higher in FRP system causes negative impact on the flexural properties
strain before ultimate failure while maintaining the peak strength which was well documented in Sajith et al. (2015) [18].
as in Fig. 4. It also exhibited better modulus as shown in Fig. 5. It Too much resin in FRP gets accumulated at the inter-laminar
might be due to the following consequences. NaOH treatment spaces which now become failure prone areas where micro failures
removes most of the greasy lignin from the fibre surface and initiate easily. We all know that the FRPs are said to be susceptible

Fig. 5. Tensile modulus of 7.5% & 10% NaOH treated samples. Fig. 7. Stress vs strain curve under flexural loading condition.

Fig. 6. Flexural test specimens (after testing).

Please cite this article as: S. P. Jani, S. Sajith, C. Rajaganapathy et al., Mechanical and thermal insulation properties of surface-modified Agave Ameri-
cana/carbon fibre hybrid reinforced epoxy composites, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.07.180
 S.P. Jani et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx 5

to delamination. Higher cellulose exposure would result in better fibres withstood higher temperature before phase change hap-
impregnation but the effect of it on mechanical properties is min- pened compared to the FRP with 7.5% NaOH treated fibres which
imal as seen in Fig. 8. It is due to the fact that under flexural loading clearly show the thermal stability which is the consequence of
conditions, the mechanical properties of FRP are predominantly higher hydrogen bond density.
driven by the inter-laminar space rather than the reinforcing
phase.
3.4. Thermal conductivity measurement

3.3. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal Thermal conductivity is the property that defines whether the
analysis (DTA) material could be used for insulation or conduction purpose. From
the results Fig. 10 it can be seen that the thermal conductivity of
Fig. 9(a) and (b) shows TGA and DTA curves of 7.5% and 10% FRP with 10% NaOH treated fibres is twice as that of FRP with
treated NaOH fibre composite. Thermal Gravimetric Analysis uses 7.5% NaOH treated fibres. It might be due to the higher cellulose
the deterioration of mass of the component as an indicator of ther- exposure which would have resulted in higher hydrogen bond den-
mal changes like glass transition temperature. Whereas, Differen- sity in the FRP system. Conduction heat transfer occurs due to the
tial Thermal Analysis uses the change in temperature of the vibration of atoms. Higher hydrogen bond density facilitates the
component compared to a reference, as an indicator to find the transfer of heat through bond vibrations which ultimately
glass transition temperature. In TGA, FRP with 10% NaOH treated increased the thermal conductivity of the FRP with 10% NaOH trea-
fibres showed more gradual deterioration in mass compared to ted fibres.
the FRP with 7.5% NaOH treated fibres which might be due to the
higher hydrogen bond density. In DTA, FRP with 10% NaOH treated

Fig. 8. Flexural modulus of 7.5% & 10% NaOH treated samples. Fig. 10. Thermal conductivity of 7.5% & 10% NaOH treated fibre composite.

Fig. 9. TGA and DTA Analysis of (a) 7.5% & (b) 10% NaOH treated fibre composite.

Please cite this article as: S. P. Jani, S. Sajith, C. Rajaganapathy et al., Mechanical and thermal insulation properties of surface-modified Agave Ameri-
cana/carbon fibre hybrid reinforced epoxy composites, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.07.180
6 S.P. Jani et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Please cite this article as: S. P. Jani, S. Sajith, C. Rajaganapathy et al., Mechanical and thermal insulation properties of surface-modified Agave Ameri-
cana/carbon fibre hybrid reinforced epoxy composites, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.07.180