Mechanical Properties of Silk Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites

Abstract

The present paper discussed the applicability of silk fiber as a reinforcement for fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites. Nowadays, much attention has been focused upon the development of fiber reinforced composites which have superior mechanical properties. Recently, attention has been shifting from glass and carbon fibers to natural fibers because of their renewable nature, low cost, low density and low energy consumption. In this study, the silk textile fabrics was used as a reinforcement, and the compression molding method was performed by using PP and PBS films as matrix materials. The tensile and bending tests were performed and their properties were discussed. The strength of silk composites was increased with increasing volume fraction of silk fiber for both tensile and bending tests. The adhesion between silk fiber and matrix materials affects little on the mechanical properties because of the continuous fiber mode of textile fabrics used here. However, the bending strength of Silk/PP composites treated by maleic anhydride polypropylene(MAPP) was larger than that of Silk/PP composites without MAPP. It is an indication from the results that the silk fabrics acts effectively as a reinforcement of thermoplastic composites.