Effect of fiber loading and alkali treatment on rice straw fiber reinforced composite for automotive bumper beam application

Abstract

Natural fiber-reinforced composites (NFC) comprise the principal subject for the wide-ranging research in the material industries with lower costs. The use of rice straw as the reinforcement material for polymer composites intended for car bumper application is reported. This study was aimed to evaluate the composite mechanical properties of tensile and impact strength, as well as the microscopic structures, under the alkali treatment of NaOH and 10, 20, 30 and 40% (v/v) fiber loading variations. The results showed that the mechanical properties of alkali-treated composites were improved relative to the untreated fiber-reinforced composites. The highest tensile strength was observed at 14.75 MPa together with the highest impact strength at 23.52 J cm-1 for the alkali-treated and 30% fiber loading composites. This makes the rice straw fiber-reinforced composites at 30% fiber loading competitive against the standard commercial bumper with a maximum tensile strength of 8.08 MPa and impact strength of 23.31 J cm-1. The precise claim of alkali conduct with sodium hydroxide indicates the improvement of tensile and impact strength of the RSF-reinforced composites. This study also shows fiber loading provides various mechanical properties of the composites. The rice straw fiber, at 30% fiber loading attached with the alkali treatment comprises an alternative material to reinforce a polymer composite for automotive bumper application with a viable tensile and effect strong point against a marketable bumper.