Fracture and failure behavior of jute fabric reinforced polypropylene. Effect of the interface modification

Abstract

The tensile fracture and failure behaviour of jute cloth (25 wt.%) reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites were studied as a function of certain interface modification procedures. The latter covered esterification of the jute and the use of lignin and maleated PP (PPMAN) as modifiers. The tensile and fracture mechanical characteristics of the composites were determined. Analysis of the emitted acoustic signals along with fractographic inspection served to trace the failure and damage development. The best property improvement was achieved by using PPMAN. The observed notch-sensitivity for the specimens was attributed to missing reinforcement homogeneity owing to the presence of insufficient jute cloth layers.