| Author | Ong, Mary Elaine |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no. ST-98-20 |
| Subject(s) | Fibrous composites--Testing
|
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Engineering |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The purpose of this study is to investigate the physical and mechanical properties of the lightweight fiber-reinforced composites. The experimental program is divided into two parts. The first part was conducted to investigate the properties of the fibers. Among the properties tested were moisture content, water absorption, specific gravity and ultimate tensile strength. Short - randomly oriented fibers at lengths 10 mm were used to reinforce the matrix at increasing contents of abaca and sisal fibers obtained from the Philippines and Thailand, respectively. The main variables in this study is fiber type and fiber content The fiber contents were increased from 1 % to 5% for each type of fiber. Control specimens with no fiber reinforcements were tested for comparative purposes. The second part of the program dealt with the experimental investigation of the physical and mechanical properties of the lightweight fiber-reinforced composites which include moisture content, water absorption, density, compressive strength and flexural strength. Lightweight fiber-reinforced composites can be developed by incorporating fibers which serve as reinforcements to the autoclaved aerated concrete which acts as the matrix. The highest modulus of rupture was obtained at 2% fiber content by volume regardless of the type of fibers used. This optimum fiber was found to increase the modulus of rupture of unreinforced lightweight matrix by 78%. The strengths of the composites became gradually decreased as the amount of fiber content was further increased up to 5%. For the two types of fibers investigated in this study, test results indicated that abaca fiber-reinforced composites exhibited better performance than sisal fiber-reinforced composites due to the higher tensile strength of abaca fibers. A more ductile behavior was observed in the autoclaved aerated concrete reinforced with short randomly oriented fibers. The failure of the composite was primarily caused by the combination of fiber rupture and fiber pull-out. There was an increase in the modulus of resilience of the autoclaved aerated concrete with the addition of abaca and sisal fibers. |
| Year | 1998 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Civil Engineering |
| Department | Department of Civil and Infrastucture Engineering (DCIE) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Structural Engineering (STE) /Former Name = Structural Engineering and Construction (ST) |
| Chairperson(s) | Pichai Nimityongskul; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Wijeyewickrema, Anil C.;Pennung Warnitchai; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1998 |