Effect of chemical composition, anatomy and cell wall structure on tensile properties of bamboo fiber

Abstract

Ligno-cellulosic fiber is an effective reinforcement as an alternative for man-made fiber in composite, while keeping the weight of the composite lower. In this paper, the assessment of bamboo fiber for composite was conducted with the determination of strength, Young's modulus and strain to failure using single fiber tensile test. The mean strength and standard deviation were calculated. Furthermore, a correction method assessed the real fiber elongation from the measured clamp displacement. Chemical analysis of bamboo fiber was conducted and the fiber surface and sclerenchyma cell wall in block was anatomically observed under SEM. Chemical analysis and surface analysis results showed that bamboo fiber is a technical fiber with parenchyma and sclerenchyma cell containing high amount of α-cellulose (50.23%) and holocellulose (67.08%). The fibers constitute the sclerenchymatous tissue and occur in the internodes as caps of vascular bundles or isolated strands. The fibers are grouped in bundles and sheaths around the vessels. For that reason bamboo fiber has high tensile strength (882 ± 307 MPa). Young's modulus for 5, 10, 15, 25 and 35 mm span length were found to be 10.41 ± 4.52, 17.90 ± 7.67, 23.67 ± 8.66, 29.49 ± 4.78, 33.52 ± 11.04 GPa respectively. After correction the Young's modulus was found to be 33.86 GPa. Strain to failure of bamboo fiber was found to be 3.90%. Thus it can be concluded that this procedure seems to be useful for strong bamboo fiber to produce more reliable results.