Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Characterization of Grape Cane Fibers as a Composite Reinforcement

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/zp38wk35v

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  • Using plant fibers as a potential renewable material to substitute for glass fibers in fiber-reinforced polymer composites has been growing since the late 1990s. Due to high demand, there has been a shift towards ‘green concept’ material in many applications. Numerous secondary plant fibers have been explored as a source of renewable material, including fibers from grape cane. Secondary plant fiber is underutilized and produced at least once a year, after harvesting for the primary product. In regard to vineyards, the grape cane is normally collected and burnt, or used as a soil amendment. Secondary plant fiber is abundant and readily available to be used in many applications. However, it is essential to better understand the fiber characteristics and the influence of the selected treatment method on the fiber properties. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of alkali-treated grape cane fibers as a reinforcement material in polymer composite applications. Bark fibers of the grape cane were used in this study. The fibers were treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) at four different concentrations levels: 1%, 3%, 5%, and 7 wt% NaOH. This treatment was carried out for two types of bark fibers: outer bark (OB) and inner bark (IB). The resulting alkali-treated fibers are considered technical fibers, which consist of numerous ultimate fibers in an elongated bundle. The technical fibers were macerated with Franklin's solution to obtain individual cells and to determine the morphology of the ultimate fibers. Chemical composition for each technical fiber type was conducted following the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) was integrated to study their crystallinity properties. A single technical fiber tensile test, integrated with Digital Image Correlation (DIC) method, was performed at three gage lengths for each treatment concentration and technical fiber type. Ultimately, these fibers were mixed with unsaturated polyester (UPE) resin to fabricate grape cane-UPE composites. In preparing the composites, the UPE was mixed with a diluent - either acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO) or styrene to form crosslinks in the polymer structure. The flexural and tensile properties, as well as water absorption of the composite panels, were evaluated. Overall statistical analysis revealed that there was a significant difference in terms of fiber morphology, chemical composition, crystallinity, and technical fiber tensile properties when comparing OB and IB fibers. This distinction was due to the difference in morphological structure of these fibers that originated from different parts of the bark. Among the treatment concentrations levels, fibers treated at a lower concentration, such as 1 and 3 wt% NaOH, resulted in better overall properties at micro and macro levels. In the UPE composites, the panels were fabricated with either OB fibers or a mixture of OB and IB fibers. There was no significant difference observed between treatment concentrations on all the parameters tested, regardless of the fiber and resin types. Adding a mixture of the bark fibers in the AESO-UPE resin improved the composite properties when compared to the AESO-control and OB fiber-panels. There was no improvement observed for Styrene-UPE panels as a result of adding fiber reinforcement.
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