Mechanical, Thermal and Instrumented Impact Properties of Bamboo Fabric-Reinforced Polypropylene Composites

Many automotive companies are experimenting with natural fibres as a substitute for glass fibres in polymer composites, especially polypropylene (PP) based composites. PP composites reinforced by plain woven bamboo fabric have recently been widely investigated. Bamboo in woven fabric form embedded in the polymer results in easier material handling during production and reduction in the manufacturing cost of the composites. In the current study, the performance of twill-weave bamboo fabric-reinforced PP composites, which were fabricated using a compression moulding method, was evaluated. The mechanical, thermal and impact performances of the bamboo fabric-reinforced PP (BPP) composites were evaluated in comparison to those of PP, at various bamboo contents and stacking sequences. The incorporation of bamboo fabric resulted in the improvement of tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength, flexural modulus and Charpy impact strength of PP by 238%, 110%, 180%, 170% and 160%, respectively. The integration of bamboo fabric slightly increased the melting temperature and the degree of crystallinity of the composites. A 40% decrease in the heat of fusion of the composites was observed compared to that of PP. Impact tests were also conducted using an instrumented drop weight impact test system. The perforation impact energy, peak load and energy absorbed of the composites increased when the bamboo content was increased. The perforation impact energy was at 55 J for the BPP50% composite, compared to that of neat PP at 20 J. The crack damage in the composites was also reduced with the presence of fabric reinforcement. These results indicate that bamboo fabric is truly a new contender for developing excellent and economical light-weight composites as interior components in automobiles.