Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Optimization of Retting and Extraction Through Constitutive Material Modelling of Plant Stems for Variability Reduction in Extracted Natural Fibers

ANSHUL SINGHAL, AMY LANGHORST, ANKUSH BANSAL, MIHAELA BANU, ALAN TAUB

Abstract


Natural plant fibers compared to glass fibers can provide a cost effective, lightweight and carbon negative reinforcement for polymer composites. However, the current commercial fiber extraction process induces defects including middle lamellae weakening during retting and kink bands during mechanical working. This leads to high variability in mechanical properties, making these fibers less favorable for structural applications at industrial scale. The aim of current research is to reduce this variability by studying the underlying mechanisms of natural fiber extraction to minimize fiber damage occurring at various steps in the process. In this study, flax stems were retted using the conventional dew/field and lab scale controlled enzymatic retting. The hand decorticated fibers from both methods were compared and enzymatic retting showed promising results in producing fine and uniform fibers as compared to fibers extracted by dew retting. To establish the constitutive parameters of the fibers for Finite Element Modeling (FEM), single retted flax stems were compression tested using a Texture Analyzer. This data can serve as the basis for modeling the mechanical deformation of plant stems passing through breaking rollers which is the first step in extraction after retting. The goal is to optimize the roller design and process conditions required to extract fibers with minimal damage and variability.


DOI
10.12783/asc36/35867

Full Text:

PDF

References


Mantia, F.P. La, and M. Morreale. 2011. “Green Composites: A Brief Review.†Composites

Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing 42 (6): 579–88.

Ku, H., H. Wang, N. Pattarachaiyakoop, and M. Trada. 2011. “A Review on the Tensile

Properties of Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites.†Composites Part B: Engineering

(4): 856–73.

AL-Oqla, Faris M., and S.M. Sapuan. 2014. “Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites in

Industrial Applications: Feasibility of Date Palm Fibers for Sustainable Automotive Industry.â€

Journal of Cleaner Production 66 (March): 347–54.

Sanjay, M. R., P. Madhu, Mohammad Jawaid, P. Senthamaraikannan, S. Senthil, and S.

Pradeep. 2018. “Characterization and Properties of Natural Fiber Polymer Composites: A

Comprehensive Review.†Journal of Cleaner Production 172: 566–81.

Pickering, K. L., M. G.Aruan Efendy, and T. M. Le. 2016. “A Review of Recent Developments

in Natural Fibre Composites and Their Mechanical Performance.†Composites Part A: Applied

Science and Manufacturing 83: 98–112.

Mehta, Geeta, Amar K. Mohanty, Kelby Thayer, Manjusri Misra, and Lawrence T. Drzal. 2005.

“Novel Biocomposites Sheet Molding Compounds for Low Cost Housing Panel Applications.â€

Journal of Polymers and the Environment 13 (2): 169–75.

Li, Xue, Lope G. Tabil, and Satyanarayan Panigrahi. 2007. “Chemical Treatments of Natural

Fiber for Use in Natural Fiber-Reinforced Composites: A Review.†Journal of Polymers and the

Environment 15 (1): 25–33.

Lee, Byoung-Ho, Hyun-Joong Kim, and Woong-Ryeol Yu. 2009. “Fabrication of Long and

Discontinuous Natural Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene Biocomposites and Their Mechanical

Properties.†Fibers and Polymers 10 (1): 83–90.

Wambua, Paul, Jan Ivens, and Ignaas Verpoest. 2003. “Natural Fibres: Can They Replace Glass

in Fibre Reinforced Plastics?†Composites Science and Technology 63 (9): 1259–64.

Gore, Al, and Melcher Media. n.d. An Inconvenient Truth : The Planetary Emergency of Global

Warming and What We Can Do about It.

Pervaiz, Muhammad, and Mohini M. Sain. 2003. “Carbon Storage Potential in Natural Fiber

Composites.†Resources, Conservation and Recycling 39 (4): 325–40.

Carr, D. J., N. M. Cruthers, R. M. Laing, B. E. Niven, K. L. Pickering, M. G.Aruan Efendy, T.

M. Le, Paul Wambua, Jan Ivens, and Ignaas Verpoest. 2003. “A Review of Recent

Developments in Natural Fibre Composites and Their Mechanical Performance.†Composites

Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing 83 (9): 98–112.

Trujillo, E., M. Moesen, L. Osorio, A. W. Van Vuure, J. Ivens, and I. Verpoest. 2014. “Bamboo

Fibres for Reinforcement in Composite Materials: Strength Weibull Analysis.†Composites Part

A: Applied Science and Manufacturing 61: 115–25.

Rosa, Igor Maria De, Josè Maria Kenny, Debora Puglia, Carlo Santulli, and Fabrizio Sarasini.

“Tensile Behavior of New Zealand Flax (Phormium Tenax) Fibers.†Journal of

Reinforced Plastics and Composites 29 (23): 3450–54.

Li, Yan, Hao Ma, Yiou Shen, Qian Li, and Zhuoyuan Zheng. 2015. “Effects of Resin inside

Fiber Lumen on the Mechanical Properties of Sisal Fiber Reinforced Composites.†Composites

Science and Technology 108 (February): 32–40.

Cheung, Hoi-yan, Mei-po Ho, and Francisco Cardona. 2009. “Natural Fibre-Reinforced

Composites for Bioengineering and Environmental Engineering Applications.†Composites Part

B: Engineering 40 (7): 655–63.

Aruan Efendy, M.G., and K.L. Pickering. 2014. “Comparison of Harakeke with Hemp Fibre as

a Potential Reinforcement in Composites.†Composites Part A: Applied Science and

Manufacturing 67 (December): 259–67.

Pickering, Kim Louise., and Minerals Institute of Materials. 2008. Properties and Performance

of Natural-Fibre Composites. CRC Press.

Pickering, K.L., G.W. Beckermann, S.N. Alam, and N.J. Foreman. 2007. “Optimising Industrial

Hemp Fibre for Composites.†Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing 38 (2):

–68.

Bos, H. L., M. J. A. Van Den Oever, and O. C. J. J. Peters. 2002. “Tensile and Compressive

Properties of Flax Fibres for Natural Fibre Reinforced Composites.†Journal of Materials

Science 37 (8): 1683–92.

Zini, Elisa, and Mariastella Scandola. 2011. “Green Composites: An Overview.†Polymer

Composites 32 (12): 1905–15.

Dittenber, David B., and Hota V.S. GangaRao. 2012. “Critical Review of Recent Publications

on Use of Natural Composites in Infrastructure.†Composites Part A: Applied Science and

Manufacturing 43 (8): 1419–29.

Akin, Danny E. 2013. “Linen Most Useful: Perspectives on Structure, Chemistry, and Enzymes

for Retting Flax.†ISRN Biotechnology 2013: 1–23.

Bourmaud, Alain, Johnny Beaugrand, Darshil U. Shah, Vincent Placet, and Christophe Baley.

“Towards the Design of High-Performance Plant Fibre Composites.†Progress in

Materials Science 97 (July 2017): 347–408.

Bos, H. L., and A. M. Donald. 1999. “In Situ ESEM Study of the Deformation of Elementary

Flax Fibres.†Journal of Materials Science 34 (13): 3029–34.

Bos., Harriëtte L. 2004. “The Potential of Flax Fibres as Reinforcement for Composite

Materials.†Eindhoven University of Technology.

Baley, Christophe, Camille Goudenhooft, Patrick Perré, Pin Lu, Floran Pierre, and Alain

Bourmaud. 2019. “Compressive Strength of Flax Fibre Bundles within the Stem and

Comparison with Unidirectional Flax/Epoxy Composites.†Industrial Crops and Products 130

(December 2018): 25–33.

Sharma, H. S. Shekhar., and C. F. van. Sumere. 1990. The Biology and Processing of Flax. M

Publications.

Akin, Danny E., Roy B. Dodd, and Jonn A. Foulk. 2005. “Pilot Plant for Processing Flax

Fiber.†Industrial Crops and Products 21 (3): 369–78.

Akin, Danny E, Jonn A Foulk, Roy B Dodd, and David D McAlister. 2001. “Enzyme-Retting of

Flax and Characterization of Processed Fibers.†Journal of Biotechnology 89 (2–3): 193–203.

Prez, Jana De, Aart Willem Van Vuure, Jan Ivens, Guido Aerts, and Ilse Van de Voorde. 2019.

“Effect of Enzymatic Treatment of Flax on Ease of Fiber Extraction and Chemical

Composition.†BioResources 14: 1–16.

Martin, Nicolas, Peter Davies, and Christophe Baley. 2014. “Comparison of the Properties of

Scutched Flax and Flax Tow for Composite Material Reinforcement.†Industrial Crops and

Products 61 (November): 284–92.

Xu, Jinke. 2010. “Analysis and Design of Hemp Fibre Decorticators.†The University of

Manitoba.

Beaugrand, Johnny, Sofiane Guessasma, and Jean Eudes Maigret. 2017. “Damage Mechanisms

in Defected Natural Fibers.†Scientific Reports 7 (1): 1–7.

Zeng, Xuesen, Sacha J. Mooney, and Craig J. Sturrock. 2015. “Assessing the Effect of Fibre

Extraction Processes on the Strength of Flax Fibre Reinforcement.†Composites Part A: Applied

Science and Manufacturing 70: 1–7.

Hänninen, Tuomas, Anders Thygesen, Shahid Mehmood, Bo Madsen, and Mark Hughes. 2012.

“Mechanical Processing of Bast Fibres: The Occurrence of Damage and Its Effect on Fibre

Structure.†Industrial Crops and Products 39 (1): 7–11.

Musio, Salvatore, Jörg Müssig, and Stefano Amaducci. 2018. “Optimizing Hemp Fiber

Production for High Performance Composite Applications.†Frontiers in Plant Science 9: 1702.

Chabbert, Brigitte, Justine Padovani, Christophe Djemiel, Jordane Ossemond, Alain Lemaître,

Arata Yoshinaga, Simon Hawkins, Sébastien Grec, Johnny Beaugrand, and Bernard Kurek.

“Multimodal Assessment of Flax Dew Retting and Its Functional Impact on Fibers and

Natural Fiber Composites.†Industrial Crops and Products 148 (January): 112255.

Baley, Christophe, Moussa Gomina, Joel Breard, Alain Bourmaud, and Peter Davies. 2020.

“Variability of Mechanical Properties of Flax Fibres for Composite Reinforcement. A Review.â€

Industrial Crops and Products 145 (March): 111984.

Goudenhooft, Camille, Alain Bourmaud, and Christophe Baley. 2019. “Flax (Linum

Usitatissimum L.) Fibers for Composite Reinforcement: Exploring the Link Between Plant

Growth, Cell Walls Development, and Fiber Properties.†Frontiers in Plant Science 10: 411.

Prez, Jana De, Aart Willem Van Vuure, Jan Ivens, Guido Aerts, and Ilse Van de Voorde. 2018.

“Enzymatic Treatment of Flax for Use in Composites.†Biotechnology Reports 20: e00294.

Fuentes, C. A., P. Willekens, J. Petit, C. Thouminot, J. Müssig, L. M. Trindade, and A. W. Van

Vuure. 2017. “Effect of the Middle Lamella Biochemical Composition on the Non-Linear

Behaviour of Technical Fibres of Hemp under Tensile Loading Using Strain Mapping.â€

Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing 101: 529–42.

Andersons, J., E. PoriÄ·e, and E. SpÄrniņš. 2009. “The Effect of Mechanical Defects on the

Strength Distribution of Elementary Flax Fibres.†Composites Science and Technology 69 (13):

–57.

Baley, C. 2004. “Influence of Kink Bands on the Tensile Strength of Flax Fibers.†Journal of

Materials Science 39 (1): 331–34.

Majumdar, S., A. B. Kundu, S. Dey, and B. L. Ghosh. 1991. “Enzymatic Retting of Jute

Ribbons.†International Biodeterioration 27 (3): 223–35.

Ruan, Peiying, Vijaya Raghavan, Jianmin Du, Yvan Gariepy, Darwin Lyew, and Hongyan

Yang. 2020. “Effect of Radio Frequency Pretreatment on Enzymatic Retting of Flax Stems and

Resulting Fibers Properties.†Industrial Crops and Products 146 (April): 112204.

Lefeuvre, Anaële, Alain Bourmaud, and Christophe Baley. 2015. “Optimization of the

Mechanical Performance of UD Flax/Epoxy Composites by Selection of Fibres along the

Stem.†Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing 77: 204–8.

Militký, Jiří, Rajesh Mishra, and Hafsa Jamshaid. 2018. “Basalt Fibers.†Handbook of

Properties of Textile and Technical Fibres, January, 805–40.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.