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Hemp fibers are one of the strongest and stiffest available natural fibers and
therefore have great potential for use in composite materials. This paper investigated the
impact response of reinforcing polypropylene (PP) by hemp fibers. Hemp fibers were added
at (30 wt.%, 33 wt.%, 35 wt.%, 37 wt.%, and 40 wt.%). Influence of fiber.s content on
composite tensile strength and strain were revealed and the results show that at 33 wt.% the
tensile strength of PP and hemp fiber composites was improved by 12.75 %. At 33 wt.% the
fibers were longitudinally, at 45 °, horizontally, and randomly oriented. The influence of
fiber.s orientation on both stress and strain of the composites was studied and the results show
that the tensile strength of the composites when the fibers were longitudinally oriented was
higher than that of the other fiber.s orientation. Also the tensile strength of the composites at
33 wt.% was highly improved when the fibers were weaved and the tensile strength of the
composite was improved by 25.98 %. The effect of hemp fiber on the hardness of PP was
deliberated where the hardness of the composite was increased by 5.77 % better than that of
pure PP.
Keywords: polypropylene; hemp fibers; NFRPCs; tensile strength; hardness number |
full paper (pdf, 2144 Kb)