Fatigue and Fracture Properties of Laminated Bamboo Strips from Gigantochloa scortechinii Polyester Composites
Aidy Ali,
Kannan Rassiah,
Faiz Othman,
How Pueh Lee,
Tong Earn Tay,
Muhammad Shauqi Hazin,
Megat Muhammad Hamdan Megat Ahmad
Affiliations
Aidy Ali
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM), Kem Sg. Besi, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Malaysia
Kannan Rassiah
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Politeknik Port Dickson (PPD).*KM 14, Jalan Pantai, Si Rusa, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia; Malaysia
Faiz Othman
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM), Kem Sg. Besi, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Malaysia
How Pueh Lee
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore (NUS) 9 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore; Singapore
Tong Earn Tay
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore (NUS) 9 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore; Singapore
Muhammad Shauqi Hazin
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM), Kem Sg. Besi, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Malaysia
Megat Muhammad Hamdan Megat Ahmad
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM), Kem Sg. Besi, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Malaysia
The fatigue and fracture properties of bamboo fiber composites made of woven layers were investigated. This study utilized a specific type of bamboo species named Gigantochloa scortechinii (Buluh Semantan). In these experiments, unsaturated polyester (UP) and bamboo fiber (BF) strips were prepared through a hand lay-up technique using 3-mm thick aluminum mould. The composite bamboo strips had a thickness of 1.5 mm. The strips were woven together to make a single layer. The layer was then laminated into several thicknesses. The specimens were then characterized using fatigue and fracture tests. A fatigue limit of 30 MPa and fracture toughness of 5 to 8 MPa √m were obtained. These findings suggest that the bamboo strips, based on unsaturated polyester, provided relatively good fatigue and fracture properties and a good method of reinforcing fibers to combat fatigue and fracture failures.
