Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, September 2016 ISSN 2412-5954

The Effects of Ukam (Cochlospermum Planchonii) Plant Fiber Variation on the

Properties of Polyester Matrix Fiber Reinforced Composite

Ihom, A.P.1, a, Dennis .O. Onah1

1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Uyo, Uyo, PMB 1017 Uyo-Nigeria

a ihomaondona@gmail.com, draondonaphilip@gmail.com

DOI 10.13140/RG.2.2.35903.92320

Keywords: Cochlospermum planchonii fiber, polyester, composite; matrix, reinforcement, properties.

ABSTRACT. The work titled The Effects of Ukam (Cochlospermum Planchonii) Plant Fiber Variation on the Properties
of Polyester Matrix Fiber Reinforced Composite has been undertaken. The work delved into the production of the
composites, this was accomplished by the separate activities of fiber production, mould production and matrix
preparation. The fiber was from cochlospermum planchonii (Ukam) plant and the matrix was from polyester. Samples of
the produced composites were used in preparing standard test specimens, which were subjected to various tests in order
to characterize the composite. In all the properties tested, it was observed that Ukam fiber content had a major role in
determining the properties of the composite. The variation of the fiber weight fraction affected all the tested properties of
the composite. The results showed that to produce a polyester composite with optimized properties using Ukam fiber,
which is biodegradable, the fiber content should be 40%.

Introduction. There are very many situations in engineering where no single material will be suitable
to meet a particular design requirement. However, two materials in combination may possess a
feasible solution to the materials selection problem. The principle of composite materials is not new.
The use of straw in the manufacture of dried mud bricks, and the use of hair and other bers date
back to ancient civilizations [1]. A typical composite material is a system of materials comprising of
two or more materials mixed and bonded together. For example, concrete is made up of cement, sand,
stones and water. If the composition occurs on a microscopic scale (molecular level), the new material
is called an alloy for metals or a polymer for plastics [15]. Types of composites are fiber reinforced
composites, metal matrix composites, polymer matrix composites, and ceramic matrix composites
[16].
Generally, a composite material is composed of reinforcements. These reinforcements are generally
classified into two; synthetic and natural. Synthetic reinforcements include glass, carbon and aramid
fibers. Mass production of glass strands was discovered in 1932 when Games Slayter, a researcher at
Owens-Illinois accidentally directed a jet of compressed air at a stream of molten glass and produced
fibers [16].
Nowadays, natural fibers are an interesting option for the most widely applied fibers in the composite
technology. Examples of Natural fibers are jute, hemp, flax, kenaf, coconut, Ukam, sisal, and banana,
pineapple fibers from the leaf; cotton and kapok from seed; coir and coconut from the fruit; oil palm
and bamboo fibers. The components of natural fibers are cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, pectin,
waxes and water soluble substances. The cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin are the basic components
of natural fibers, governing the physical properties of the fibers. In order to fully utilize the natural
fibers, understanding their physical and mechanical properties is vital. A unique characteristic of
natural fibers reinforced plastic is dependent on the variations in the characteristics and amount of
these components, as well as difference in its cellular structure. Therefore, to use natural fibers to its
best advantages and most effectively in automotive and industrial application, physical and
mechanical properties of natural fibers composite must be considered [2, 3, 4, 5].

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 Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, September 2016 ISSN 2412-5954

Fibers are made to exist in many forms such as; chopped strand mat, chopped strands, woven roving,
surface tissues and continuous strand mat. The matrix holds the reinforcements to form the desired
shape of a composite. In the case of polymer based composites, matrix materials are resins. A suitable
resin for combining fiber glass" with a plastic to produce a composite material was first developed
in 1936 by du Pont [6]. The matrix binds the bres together, protect them against damages and
transmit load from bre to fiber. Examples of Matrix materials are Polyester, Epoxy, Vinyl ester, etc.
Polyester is a term often defined as long-chain polymers chemically composed of at least 85% by
weight of an ester, a dihydric alcohol and a terephthalic acid. It is a category of polymers that contain
the ester functional group in their main chain. Polyester also refers to the various polymers in which
the backbones are formed by the esterification condensation of polyfunctional alcohols and acids
[1, 16, 7, 8 9].
The fabrication and properties of composites are strongly influenced by the proportions and properties
of the matrix and the reinforcement. The impact strength of fiber reinforced composite increases as
the bre volume fraction increases [23]. The strength also improves with increase in bre volume
fractions, bre treatment, bre length, bre orientation and the addition of additives [10, 11, 13].
Rasheed et al [20] found that the tensile strength of the composite increases with the fiber volume
fraction up to 40% and after which it decreases slightly. Experimental analysis of coir-fiber reinforced
polymer composite materials have shown that the mechanical properties of the composite are
dependent on the content or the volume fraction of fibers [14]. Based on the experiments, it was found
that the tensile strength and the youngs modulus decreased with the increasing fiber volume after a
particular value of fiber content. It was also seen that the failure strain increases with the increase in
the fiber content. The fiber length is another parameter affecting the mechanical properties of the
composite. The fiber length also has an impact on the tensile property, flexural property and impact
strength of the composite. Homogeneity is an important characteristic that determines the extent to
which a representative volume of the material may differ in physical and mechanical properties from
the average properties of the material. The amount of reinforcement that can be incorporated in a
given matrix is limited by a number of factors. For example with particulate reinforced metals the
reinforcement content is usually kept to less than 40 vol. % (0.4 volume fraction) because of
processing difficulties and increasing brittleness at higher contents. On the other hand, the processing
methods for fiber reinforced polymers are capable of producing composites with a high proportion of
fibers, and the upper limit of about 70 vol. % (0.7 volume fraction) is set by the need to avoid fiber-
fiber contact which results in fiber damage [12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22].
Cochlospermum Planchonii known locally as Ukam plants grow in savannah and forest savannah
mosaic in West Africa. The plant is a perennial plant with a woody subterranean rootstock, from
which, in the rainy season, annual leafy shoots growing around 2 metres tall are produced. The height
of the plant depends on the particular habitat and the age. The people of the area where these plants
are found use their fibers as sponge and also to reinforce clay with which they produced intricate
earthen pots and silos [2, 3, 4, 5]. The objective of this research work is to investigate the effect of
Ukam fiber variation on the properties of the composites produced using the fibers.
Materials and Method.
Materials.
The materials used for this work were: polyester resin, Ukam fiber (Cochlospermum Planchonii
fibers), sodium hydroxide, acetic acid, releasing agent, methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, calcium
carbonate, cobalt naphthenate and water.
Equipment.
The equipment used for the study were as follows: rule, digital weighing balace, Moulds, Tensile
Strength Tester, Scanning Electron Microscope, Universal Testing Machine, Flexural Testing
Machine, Compression Testing Machine, Rockwell B scale, and Impact Testing Machine

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 Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, September 2016 ISSN 2412-5954

Method.
The work commenced with the production of the composite using polyester as the matrix and
cochlospermum planchonii as the fibers. Cut stems of the plants were soaked inside flowing water
for thirty days. This enhanced the decay and removal of the thin back of the plant leaving behind,
white fibrous stems (see Plate I). The fibers were removed from the fibrous stems with hands (see
Plate II). The density, tensile strength, SEM analysis, and water absorption characteristics of the
produced fibers were all determined. The produced fibers were then used in the development of
polyester composite using various weight fractions of the fiber which were randomly oriented in the
matrix (see table 1). The produced composites were allowed to cure for 24 hours before the
commencement of their processing into standard test specimens which were used for characterization
of the produced composites. Plates III-VIII show some equipment, the developed composites, and
some specimens which were used for the characterization of the produced composites.

Plate I: Cut Stems of Cochlospermum Plate II: Treated and Dried Cochlospermum
Planchonii Fibers Planchonii Fibers

Plate III: Scanning Electron Microscope Plate IV: Developed Samples of

Cochlospermum Planchonii Reinforced
Polyester Composites

Plate V: Test Specimens of Cochlospermum

Plate VI: Universal Strength Testing Machine
Planconii Reinforced Composite for tensile test
(Testometric)

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Plate VII: Test Specimen of Cochlospermum Plate VIII: Flexural Test Machine
Planconii Fiber Reinforced Polyester
Composite for Flexural Test

Results and Discussion.

Results.
The results of the work are as presented in Figures 1-10 and Plates IX-X

Figure 1. Ultimate tensile strength variation with % reinforcement of cochlospermum planchonii

(Ukam) fiber in polyester composites.

Figure 2. Extension variation with % reinforcement of cochlospermum planchonii (Ukam) fiber in

polyester composites.

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 Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, September 2016 ISSN 2412-5954

Figure 3. Flexural strength variation with % reinforcement of cochlospermum planchonii (Ukam)

fiber in polyester composites.

Figure 4. Deflection variation with % reinforcement of cochlospermum planchonii (Ukam) fiber in

polyester composites.

Figure 5. Compressive strength variation with % reinforcement of cochlospermum planchonii

(Ukam) fiber in polyester composites.

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 Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, September 2016 ISSN 2412-5954

Figure 6. Maximum load variation with % reinforcement of cochlospermum planchonii (Ukam)

fiber in polyester composites.

Figure 7. Hardness in HRB of the composites with % reinforcement of cochlospermum planchonii

(Ukam) fiber in polyester composites.

Figure 8. Toughness variation with % reinforcement of cochlospermum planchonii (Ukam) fiber in

polyester composites.

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 Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, September 2016 ISSN 2412-5954

Figure 9. Density variation with % reinforcement of cochlospermum planchonii (Ukam) fiber in

polyester composites.

Figure 10. Water absorption capacity with % reinforcement of cochlospermum planchonii (Ukam)
fiber in polyester composites.

Plate IX: Scanning electron micrograph of 30% fiber content, the clusters in the plate show how the
fibers were arranged.

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 Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, September 2016 ISSN 2412-5954

Plate X: Scanning electron micrograph of 40% fiber content. The arrangement of the fibers in the
polyester show higher volume of fiber than in 30% fiber content above.

Discussion.
Figs. 1-6 show the variation of ultimate tensile strength, extension, flexural strength, deflection,
compressive strength, and maximum load properties with % reinforcement of cochlospermum
planchonii (Ukam) fibers in polyester ccomposites. All the properties of the developed composites
show a steady increase as the Ukam fiber content was increased. This is depicted by the curve which
rises steadily, peaking at 40% Ukam fiber content and then falling gradually after 40% Ukam fiber
content. All the six properties of the composite are optimized at 40% reinforcement in the polyester
composite.
Figs. 7-10 show the variation of hardness, toughness, density, and water absorption capacity
properties with % reinforcement of cochlospermum planchonii (Ukam) fibers in polyester composite.
The plot of the hardness against % reinforcement in polyester show the hardness of the composite
decreasing as the fiber reinforcement was increased. The hardness property has an inverse
relationship with % fiber reinforcement and this is depicted by the curve which falls gradually from
left to right. Fig. 8 shows that the toughness of the composites has a direct proportion relationship
with % Ukam fiber content. As the fiber content was increased, the toughness property kept increasing
up to 40% fiber content, not much significant increase was noticed after 40% fiber content. The same
trend is seen in fig. 9. The only difference is that significant reduction in the density property after
40% fiber content can be sighted after 52% Ukam fiber content down. Fig. 10 shows that water
absorption capacity property has a direct proportionality relationship with % fiber content. As the
fiber content is increasing, so is the water absorption capacity increasing. This is depicted by the
continuous rising of the curve from left to right.
Too much water in the composite has degrading effects on the composite which includes swelling
and weakening of the strength property. This may call for the selection of an optimum fiber content
which will optimize other properties and minimize the amount of Ukam fiber in the composite and
from the above results 40% fiber content is the best. The result of the work has shown that the
variation of Ukam fiber content in polyester has a major influence on the tested properties of the
composite. This is in agreement with previous work by several authors [20, 23, 10, 11, 13].
Matthews and Rawlings [12] argued that the fabrication and properties of composites are strongly
influenced by the proportions and properties of the matrix and the reinforcement. Other properties
which may significantly affect the properties of a composite are the shape, size, orientation, and
distribution of the reinforcement and various features of the matrix such as grain size for
polycrystalline matrices. These, together with volume fraction, constitute what is called the
microstructure of the composite. It should be noted that even for properties which are microstructure
dependent, and which do not obey the law of mixtures, the volume fraction still plays a major role in

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 Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, September 2016 ISSN 2412-5954

determining properties. The volume fraction is generally regarded as the single most important
parameter influencing the composite properties. Also, it is an easily controllable manufacturing
variable by which the properties of a composite may be altered to set the application [20, 23, 10, 11].
Plates xi-xii show the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) micrograph of the produced polyester
composite with 30% and 40% Ukam fiber content. Looking at the two plates it can be seen that the
plate with 40% Ukam fiber has more fiber content than the one with 30% fiber content and the
distribution is more uniform in the plate with 40% fiber content. Homogeneity in the distribution of
the fibers in composite promotes uniform properties. According to these researchers [12, 16, 17, 18,
19, 21, 22], Homogeneity is an important characteristic that determines the extent to which a
representative volume of the material may differ in physical and mechanical properties from the
average properties of the material. Non- uniformity of the system should be avoided as much as
possible because it reduces those properties that are governed by the weakest part of the composite.
The plate also shows the orientation of the fibers. The orientation of the reinforcement within the
matrix affects the isotropy of the system [12, 16]. The microstructure as earlier mentioned contributes
to the overall properties of the composite.
Summary. The work titled The Effects of Ukam (Cochlospermum Planchonii) Plant Fiber Variation
on the Properties of Polyester Matrix Fiber Reinforced Composite has been undertaken and the
following conclusions drawn from the work:
1. A set of polyester composites were produced by varying the reinforcement with cochlospermum
planchonii (Ukam) fiber which is a natural fiber and biodegradable. This makes it environmentally
friendly.
2. The work has succeeded in proving that Ukam fiber content in polyester plays a major role in
determining the properties of the developed polyester composite reinforced with Ukam fibers.
3. The work has established that using Ukam fiber to produce polyester composite, the amount of
Ukam fiber to use in order to optimize the properties of the produced composite is 40% fiber, i.e. a
volume fraction of 60 vol.% matrix (polyester) 40 vol.% reinforcement (Ukam fiber)
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