Thermal Properties of Natural Fiber Sisal Based Hybrid Composites – A Brief Review

Abstract

Among natural fiber composites, sisal fiber is one of the promising reinforcement which provides enhanced mechanical strength to the composites. The sisal fibers are low cost, available at abundant, having low density, improved specific strength and modulus, and are nontoxic. It has been utilized by mankind from the olden period itself. These fibers were used for making mats, cloths, bags, hats, ropes, and many applications. The increased strength of sisal fiber attracted the design engineers in developing fiber composites. The sisal fiber reinforcement in composites proven to be an effective replacement for synthetic fibers. At present, sisal fiber composites have been found in vast engineering applications like automobile, railways, building materials, electrical industry, geotextiles, defense and in the packaging industry. To increase the sisal fiber composite, strength hybridization was introduced. Although several literatures explore the mechanical performance of the hybrid sisal composites, there is no proper literature that summarizes the thermal properties of the sisal hybrid composites. This review presents a summary of the thermal characteristics of hybrid sisal fiber composites.

Keywords

• sisal fiber
• fiber composites
• differential scanning calorimetry
• thermogravimetric analysis
• dynamic mechanical analysis