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Abstract
Consumer awareness and stringent environmental legislation has initiated a renewed interest in using plant fibres as reinforcement in thermoplastics. The main objective of this research project is to develop high performance sheet moulded natural fibre thermoplastic composites by understanding and implementing new design concepts of fibre morphology. We have determined important design parameters such as critical fibre length, interfacial shear stress (ISS) and used them in comprehensive modeling to predict composite strength. The model was validated using experimental results. The study also indicated a significant improvement of 15–20% in mechanical properties by using maleated coupling agents and organo-silanes. A unique one-step method of utilizing hybrid natural fibres in random orientation has enhanced the impact energy absorbing behaviour of composite products by almost one hundred percent compared to non-woven mat-reinforced thermoplastics. Environmental performance of natural fibre composites compared to glass fibre plastics in terms of energy consumption is also studied.
