Seminar I on

‘Development of Natural Fiber composites for

Automotive Applications’
For the course Seminar I
By Tamrat Yimer

Submitted to Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAIT)

School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Addis Ababa University

Advisor Dr. Daneal Tilahun (Phd)

Examiner Dr. Ing Zewedu A. Debele (Phd)
July 2013
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia

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Table of contents
Titles Page Numbers
Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………… ……..ii
Chapter One ………………………………………………………………………………………1
1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………….............1
1.1 Introduction to composite materials …………………………………………….........1
1.1.1 Types of reinforcements …………………………………………………..….1
1.1.2 Types of fiber ………………………………………………………………....1
1.1.3 Types of matrix ……………………………………………………….............2
1.1.4 Classification of polymers ……………………………………………............3
1.2 Natural Fiber Reinforced Composite ………………………………………………....3
1.3 Classification of Natural fiber Composites…………………………………….……..5
1.4 Natural Fiber Types ………………………………………………………………......6
1.4.1 Fruit fiber ………………………………………………………......................8
1.4.2 Leaf fibers ………………………………………………...…………………..8
1.4.3 Bast stem fibers ……………………………………………………………….9
1.4.4 Seed fibers ……………………………………………………………..…….11
1.5 Advantages of Natural Fiber Composites ……………………………………...……17
1.6 Disadvantage of natural fiber composite ……………………………………………18
1.7 Historical Development of natural fiber composites for automotive industries…….18
Chapter Two ………………………………………………………………………………..……24
2. Methodology ………………………………………………………………………….…24
Chapter Three ………………………………………………………………………………..…..36
3. Results and Discussion …………………………………………………………….……36
References ………………………………………………………………………………………49

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Abstract
Natural fibers are emerging as low cost, lightweight and apparently environmentally superior
alternatives to glass fibers in composites. Natural fiber composites are likely to be
environmentally superior to glass fiber composites in most cases. Due to these facts, they are
used in transportation (automobiles, railway coaches, aerospace), military applications, building
and construction industries (ceiling paneling, partition boards), packaging, consumer products,
etc. The objective of this paper is to show the developments of natural fiber composites for
automotive applications. In order to achieve this goal divide this paper into three chapters. The
first chapter is the introduction part, in this presented about synthetic composite materials in
partial, natural fiber composite materials in detail and the historical development of natural fiber
for automotive applications. The second chapter is delivered the methodology, the way to
develop the automobile components from natural composite materials, of six recently published
papers. Finally the third chapter discussed the results of these papers.

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Chapter one
1. Introduction
1.1 Introduction to composite materials
There are many examples of composite materials in our everyday lives, such as paper, wood,
teeth and so on. A good example is concrete used in buildings. Concrete is made of cement
(binder) and gravel (reinforcement), and is then transformed into a three-phase composite by
adding another reinforcement, steel. In most cases composite materials can be defined as
comprised of matrix and reinforcement. The objective of the matrix is to hold the reinforcement
together in a required pattern. The reinforcement is usually much stiffer and stronger than the
matrix, and gives the composite good properties. The reinforcement carries most of the external
load that the composite is subjected to, while the matrix can effectively transfer the external
loads to the reinforcement and protect it from adverse environmental effects [25]. In this chapter
presented a brief discussion on synthetic and natural fibers. Some historical development of
natural fibers on automotive applications incorporated.

1.1.1 Types of reinforcements

Basically, the reinforcement has three forms, particulate, discontinuous (short) fiber and
continuous (endless) fiber. The particles of a particulate reinforcement generally have roughly
equal dimensions in all directions. For example, gravel is the particulate reinforcement in
concrete. Fibers are reinforcements with one dimension significantly longer than others.
Discontinuous fibers, such as chopped and milled fibers, have a variety of lengths, ranging from
a few millimeters to a few centimeters. Usually the diameter of most fibers is a few microns, thus
it does not need much length for a particle to become a fiber. The reinforcement may be
randomly oriented or ordered (aligned) [20].

1.1.2 Types of fiber

In composite applications the most common types of fibrous reinforcement are glass, carbon,
aramid and Natural fiber [15, 16, 18, 38]. Glass fibers are amorphous and thus isotropic. Glass
fibers have some advantages, such as high temperature-tolerance, good corrosion-resistance,
radar transparency, and low cost. However, some disadvantages, such as abrasiveness, and low

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stiffness, limit their applications. Several different glass compositions are available, such as E-
glass (E for electrical), C-glass (C for corrosion) and S-glass (S for strength). E-glass has
excellent electrical resistance and weathering properties, durability, and relatively low price,
which makes it the most commonly used. C-glass has lower strength than E-glass but better
corrosion-resistance, while S-glass offers higher strength, Young‟s modulus and temperature-
tolerance than E-glass but is more expensive. Carbon fibers, typically 5 – 10  m in diameter,
are comprised of microscopic crystals of graphite, one of the allotropic forms of carbon. The
carbon atoms are held together by strong covalent bonds in small crystallites, arranged in a
regular hexagonal pattern, most of which are aligned along the long fiber axis. The good crystal
alignment gives the fiber very high axial modulus and strength. These basic crystal units are
highly anisotropic [10].
Carbon fibers are mainly produced from polyacrylonitrile fibers, miso phase pitch and pyro lytic
deposition. Carbon fibers have extremely high strength, stiffness, low weight and low thermal
expansion, leading to popularity in industrial applications, such as aerospace, automotive and
motorsports. Carbon fibers are lighter and have higher axial modulus than glass fibers, but are
more expensive. Aramid fiber is a generic form for a class of synthetic organic fibers named as
aromatic polyamide fibers [22]. Aramid fibers have lower strength and stiffness than carbon
fibers but are cheaper. They have better mechanical performance than glass fibers and exhibit
good impact resistance. There are many other types of fiber available, such as natural fibers,
boron fibers, polyethylene fibers, ceramic fibers, non-oxide fibers, and so on [23]. About natural
fibers will discuss in detail.

1.1.3 Types of matrix

According to the types of matrices used, composite materials can be classified as polymer matrix
composites (PMCs), metal matrix composites (MMCs) and ceramic matrix composites (CMCs)
[44, 48]. Polymer is clearly the dominant matrix in most composite applications, and MMCs and
CMCs are only used to a limited degree in specialized applications. For PMCs the reinforcement
dominates the modulus and strength of the composite as polymers usually have lower modulus
and strength than the reinforcing phase.

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1.1.4 Classification of polymers
Figure 1.1 shows a simple classification of polymers used in PMCs. There are three important
categories, thermosets, thermoplastics and rubbers [20, 23]. Within any class there are numerous
different types of polymers available, e.g. thermosets include epoxy, polyester, polyimide, etc.
Even for a given polymer, many forms may exist. For example, a different degree of cure
(chemical crosslinking) gives a different type of epoxy. Crosslinking, which links between
polymer chains using covalent bonds, occurs during the curing reaction. Thermosetting polymers
are resins in which the molecules are cross linked in the form of a network and do not soften on
heating.
Thermoplastics soften and melt on heating, which allows them to be used in thermoforming.
They become solid and maintain their shape in the mold when cooled. Scraps of thermoplastics
can be recycled as they can be repeatedly heated, fabricated and cooled, although the properties
will degrade due to a reduction in molecular weight [25].

Fig.1.1 classification of polymers [20]

1.2 Natural Fiber Reinforced Composite:-

For making composite of reinforcement polymer, we use natural fibers; it includes those
produced by plants, animals and geological process see Fig.1.3. Now there is much interest in
natural fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials because of their industrial applications and
fundamental research. These are renewable, cheap, completely or partially recyclable, and

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biodegradable see Fig.1.2. Plants, such as flax, cotton, hemp, jute, sisal, pineapple, ramie,
bamboo, banana, etc., [12,13,39, 44] are used as a source of lignocellulosic fibers, and are more
and more often applied as the reinforcement of composites. Their availability, renewability, low
density, and price as well as satisfactory mechanical properties make them an attractive
ecological alternative to glass, carbon and man-made fibers used for the manufacturing of
composites [1, 13, 20, 30]. The natural fiber-containing composites are more environmentally
friendly, and are used in transportation (automobiles, railway coaches, aerospace), military
applications, building and construction industries (ceiling paneling, partition boards), packaging,
consumer products, etc [2,5,15].

Composites are widely used in our day to day life. Due to their low weight and ability to be
handmade for specific end use they have gained a considerable ground in the high performance
applications, such as aerospace and automobile industry [4, 6]. However, the use of polymers
that can be recycled when used with carbon and other niche fibers renders the composite non-
recyclable. This has become a major issue as the landfills are filling up at a faster pace along
with the need for going green due to global warming [20].

Natural fibers are emerging as low cost, lightweight and apparently environmentally superior
alternatives to glass fibers in composites. Natural fiber composites are likely to be
environmentally superior to glass fiber composites in most cases for the following reasons: (1)
natural fiber production has lower environmental impacts compared to glass fiber production; (2)
natural fiber composites have higher fiber content for equivalent performance, reducing more
polluting base polymer content; (3) the light-weight natural fiber composites improve fuel
efficiency and reduce emissions in the use phase of the component, especially in auto
applications [21].

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Figure 1.2 Life cycles of compostable, biodegradable polymers [34, 42].

1.3 Classification of Natural Fibers

Natural fibers in general can be classified based on their origin, and the plant-based fibers can be
further categorized based on part of the plant they are recovered from [20]. Generaly they are
divided in to three major groups that are plants, animals and minirals fiber. In this paper focussed
on the plant fibers only. A general classification for natural fibers is provided in Fig. 1.3.

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Fig. 1.3 Classification of natural fibers [48]

1.4 Natural Fiber Types

Plants fiber originating from the bast stem, leaf, seed and fruit are naturally organized into
bundles and are therefore called fiber bundles, whereas fibers originating from seed are single
cells and are referred to as fibers [1, 17]. The processes used to separate fiber bundles from the
bast stem and leaf is quite similar. Seed fibers, especially cotton lint, are separated from the seed
by the ginning process while kapok fibers are separated by shaking as they are loosely held to the
seed. Decortication and retting techniques are usually employed to separate fibers bundles from
the leaf and bast of fiber plants. The size of the bundle is governed by the severity of the process.
A decorticator is a machine used to strip fiber bundles from the stem or leaf. Leaves are crushed
and beaten by a rotating wheel set with blunt knives so that only the fibers remain. The other
parts of the leaf are washed away by water. Decorticated fibers are then washed before drying on

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the sun or using hot air. The dry fibers are combed and sorted into various grades [18]. Retting is
defined as the subjection of crop or deseeded straw to chemical or biological treatment to make
the fiber bundles more easily separable from the woody part of the stem [1] to facilitate the
removal of fiber bundles. There are two traditional types of retting namely dew and water retting.
Dew retting entails leaving the plant stem in the field to decay. In this process retting is
constantly monitored to ensure that bast fibers separate from the core without much deterioration
in quality. Dew retting is the most popular in Europe although it is heavily dependent on the
geographical location, produces coarser and lower quality fibers than those produced using water
retting technique [19]. Water retting entails the soaking of stems in water (ponds or tanks and
slow moving rivers). Water retting may require large amount of clean water and therefore
expensive but results in high quality fibers and produces environmentally unacceptable
fermentation waste. Natural fiber cell consists of one primary and three secondary walls see in
Fig. 1.4.

Fig. 1.4 Structural constitution of natural fiber cell [23].

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1.4.1 Fruit fiber
Coir fiber has been used in India for about 3000 years. The name coir is derived from the
Malayalam kayaru, „cord‟ [20]. It is grown in the Indo-Malaysian region, East and Western
African countries, and Central and South America. It is obtained from the fruit of the coconut
palm and the fibrous tissue lies between the exocarp and the endocarp surrounding the kernel.
There are three types of coconut fiber, namely the longest and the finest called „white‟ fiber, a
coarser fiber known as „brittle‟ fiber, and a shorter staple fiber known as „mattress‟ [21]. The
brittle and mattress fibers are often referred to as „brown‟ fiber [22, 23]. The retting process is
traditionally employed to extract coir fiber bundles where the husk is immersed in water for 3-9
months. The decorticating process can also be used to separate the fiber bundles.

1.4.2 Leaf fibers

The leaf fibers, also referred to as „hard‟ fibers, are obtained from the leaves or leaf stalks of
various monocotyledonous plants. Monocotyledons have parallel veined leaves and have one
seed leaf [22]. Abaca fiber is the most important species of the Musaceae plant family. It
resembles the Musa ulugurensis, which bears the edible banana fruit and produces high quality
fibers. The fibers are in bundles of individual cells obtained from the leaf covers. They are
removed from the strands by boiling in an alkali solution and are smooth with uniform diameter.
The fiber lumen is large in relation to the cell wall. Banana fiber, Musa paradiisiaca L. var
Sapientum or Musaulugurensis Warb is the most cultivated banana plant. The word banana
comes from Arabic and it means „finger‟ [24]. There are about 300 species of banana and about
20 are used for consumption. In order to obtain the best fiber the plants are cut when they are
almost at the flowering stage, before any fruit has formed. The separation process is done
manually and it involves cutting pieces of banana from the stem and passing them through a
crush to remove excess moisture (water), and combing and drying at ambient temperature. The
fiber obtained is usually of low quality because the separation of the fiber bundles is done either
after the fruits have just developed or when they have ripened ready for food purposes. New
Pineapple plants are largely grown in tropical America, in the Far-East Asia countries and
Africa. It is in the Philippines and Taiwan where the pineapple plant is largely used as a source
of fiber. India also uses the pineapple plant as a source of fiber. The pineapple fiber bundles are
separated from the pineapple leaf by hand and sometimes by machines. The hand separation

8
involves the stripping off of the fiber from the retted leaf. This method is considered to be
laborious and costly and tends to lose a lot of weaker fibers. The use of machines to separate the
fiber bundles is slower than the hand method of extraction but facilitates production processes.
The yield of hand separated pineapple fiber bundles is in the range 2% to 3% dry fiber from
about 1 tone of pineapple leaf, that is, 20 kg to 27 kg of dry fiber [25]. The agave genus includes
more than 250 species. Sisal is a semi-xerophyte plant practically without a stalk from which
fiber is obtained. Major sisal fiber growing countries are Brazil, Tanzania, and Kenya [6]. Sisal
is distinguished from abaca by Billinghame‟s test and the presence of rod like crystals in the ash.
It differs from phormium fiber in that the ultimate fibers are polygonal in outline with a rounded
polygonal lumen when viewed in cross-section. The lumen varies in size but is usually large and
well defined and the longitudinal shape is approximately cylindrical with a blunt tapering tip. In
general the fiber characteristics are similar to those of abaca [20].

1.4.3 Bast stem fibers

Bast fibers are obtained from the stems of various dicotyledonous plants and are also referred to
as „soft‟ fibers to distinguish them from leaf fibers. Dicotyledons are plants with two seed leaves
cotyledons. Botanically the term bast (bark) is synonymous with phloem, the food conducting
tissue of vascular plants. It is also used to denote fibers obtained from the cortex and per cycle in
addition to the phloem. Bast fiber bundles are composed of elongated thick-walled ultimate cells
joined together both end to end and side by side and arranged in bundles along the length of the
stem. Bast fiber bundles are removed from the parent material by the decorticating process,
which consists of removing from the stem, the „cortex‟ comprising the bast and outer barks. The
separated fibers are then washed in water and dried. Bamboo is a grass fiber, has a hollow stem
called the culm with the cellulose fibers aligned along the length of the culm carrying nutrients
between the leaves and roots. It has a light colored lignin. Bamboo can be grown in both the
tropics and in temperate climates. There are over 1,250 species of bamboo and over 10,000 tones
are produced annually [8]. It is one of the main building materials used in developing countries,
surpassed only by wood. Flax can be grown and harvested in just three months‟ time. The fully-
grown flax plant is about 900-1200 mm long and 1.5-3 m wide. It is grown in such a way that
harvesting must take place before lignification takes place as this will result in poor quality fiber.
However, early harvesting produces a low yield of fiber. The fiber is produced mainly in

9
temperate climates. The number of fiber bundles in stem ranges from 15 to 40 and each bundle
contains between 12 and 40 ultimate fibers. The ultimate fibers consist of pointed cells with very
thick walls and very small lumens. Flax, unlike other bast fibers, contains transverse dislocations
often in the form of an X [22]. Hemp is a temperate climate plant grown mainly in Russia and
Eastern Europe. The Chinese have used hemp for at least 6,000 years. The fiber was first planted
in North America in 1606 by French botanist Louis Hevert. Hemp was formally christened
Cannabis sativa L. in 1753 by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus [3]. However, it worth noting that
Cannabis sativa is usually confused with the marijuana plant. In contrast to the industrial hemp,
which is planted only centimeters apart with most of its leaves concentrated at the top, the
marijuana plant is quite dense, leafier, shorter, bushier, and is planted meters apart. From as early
as 5 B.C. to the mid-1800s hemp fibers were used to manufacture 90% of all ships‟ canvas sails,
rigging, nets, and caulk because of its strength and resistance to salt water [3]. It is reported that
the hemp plant will produce about 0.168 kg of fiber per square meter whereas the cotton plant
will produce only 0.057 kg of fiber per square meter and hemp does not need the enormous
amount of agricultural chemicals that cotton needs to grow. Over a period of 20 years 1m2 of
hemp plants will produce as much pulp as 4m2 of forestland [3]. Hemp fiber bundles are
separated from the stem in a decortication process in which the plant is either cut or pulled from
the ground. The cut plant is then retted allowing the enzyme secreted by microorganisms to
digest or degrade the non-cellulose materials, mainly pectin, which holds the fibrils together to
liberate the fiber bundles [26]. The long bark fiber from the stalk can be spun into threads, made
into ropes, woven into fabrics, carpets and shoes and made into canvas. The inner core of stalk or
hurd can be made into dioxin-free paper and pulp as well as charcoal, methanol, and methane.
The latter are biomass fuels, which are clean and virtually free from pollutants generated by the
combustion of fossil fuels. Jute is the second most important fiber apart from cotton. It is a fast
growing annual plant. In hot and humid climate jute plants reach about 2.5 - 3 m in height within
4-6 months. Corchorus capsularis has a globular shaped pod whereas Corchorus olitorius is
cylindrical [25, 27]. Most of the jute is harvested when about 50 % of the plants are in pod
because it is during this stage of growth that high quality jute fiber bundles can be obtained. The
fiber bundles are separated from the woody stem by the retting process. About 10,000 to 14,000
kgs of green plant yield from 4. 5 - 8 % of their green weights in dry fiber. The fiber lies along
the length of the plant stem in the form of an annular meshwork composed of more than one

10
fiber layer. Jute is the most widely produced of the bast fibers followed by flax and hemp fibers.
It has a higher lignin content, which distinguishes it from flax and hemp fibers. Kenaf has been
cultivated for 4000 years but has only recently been exploited as a source of fiber. It is grown in
tropical and sub-tropical areas. In Brazil it is cultivated throughout the year. The bark fibers of
kenaf plant are long and stringy but the inner core is much like balsa wood. Kenaf can produce
about 2.47 kg of pulp per season, which is the same amount that a pine tree can produce after 20
years of growth [28]. Application for which kenaf fibers find markets are very similar to those of
other bast fibers, namely paper making, pulp and more importantly is its use and in making
building materials like fiber boards that are insect, fire and rot proof. Ramie is obtained from a
tall plant grown in Brazil, India, Japan, South-East Asia, and Southern Europe. The Chinese have
grown the fiber for centuries and it is sometimes referred to as „China‟ grass [22]. Ramie is a
continuing plant and can last for 7-20 years. The fiber can be prepared from pieces of parent root
stock and can be harvested 3-6 times a year. The highest yield is attained in the third and fourth
years and maintained until the plant is about six years old [29]. The fiber is extracted from the
green plant by decorticating processes. Sometimes a degumming treatment such as an alkali boil
is used to separate the fiber from the main material. Ramie fiber is easily identified by its coarse,
thick walls, lacks twist and has striated surfaces [25].

1.4.4 Seed fibers

The seed fibers are generally formed from a single biological cell. It is reported that more than
one cell takes part in the growth of fibers. The most important of the seed fibers is cotton. Cotton
is mostly grown in warm temperate and tropical regions, between latitudes 40o N and 40o S. The
plant was originally a continuing plant but now a day almost exclusively grows as an annual
crop. Cotton fiber has been in use for at least 5000 years. It takes 45-65 days, from the flower to
the open ball, for the fiber to mature. The maturity of cotton fiber is determined by assessing the
shape of the wall-thickness as compared to the size of the lumen. Maturity is defined as the ratio,
θ of the cross-sectional area, A of the cell wall to the area, Ao of a circle with the same perimeter.
Others prefer the reciprocal of the maturity, which is called the Immaturity Ratio, I [30]. Tables
1.1-1.5 showed us the chemical composition, physical properties, mechanical properties and
scientific name of some different fibers some natural fibers.

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Table 1.1: Chemical composition of some plant fibers [23]

Table 1.2: Physical properties of the plant fibers [34]

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Table 1.3: Mechanical properties leaf and bast fibers [38]

Table 1.4: Mechanical properties of coir and the seed fibers [38]

Table 1.5 scientific names of different natural fibers [23]

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Fig. 1.5 Defferent bast fibers [44]

Fig 1.6 Sisal fiber [33]

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Fig.1.7 Hemp field with mature hemp plants (left). Hemp leaf stem, and plant top (right)[26].

15
Figure 1.8. Traditional procedure for going from the hemp plant to fibre reinforced composite materials. The
process goes through field cultivation (a to c), retting and decortification (d to f) and addition of polypropylene,
heat and press consolidation (g to i) [26].

Figure 1.9: (a) Cross-sectional and (b) longitudinal views of hemp fibre [30]

Figure 1.10: (a) cross-section and (b) longitudinal section through sisal fibre [30]

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Fig. 1.11 Composite tensile strength as function of FVF [35]

1.5 Advantages of Natural Fiber Composites:-

The natural fiber composite mainly have the following advantages
 Its low specific weight, higher specific strength and stiffness than glass fiber.
 It is a renewable source & it is biodegradable
 We can produce these composites with low investment at low cost, which makes the
material, an interesting product, for low developing countries.
 It possesses reduced wear of tooling, healthier working condition, and no skin irritation.
 Here thermal recycling is possible.
 Its low cost is one of the advantages of the fiber.
 It behaves friendly to the environment treatment coir fiber [17].
 It provides better thermal and acoustic insulation properties, especially as an automotive
interior or construction material part, due to presence of lumen/void in the fiber [20].
 Low density: This may lead to a weight reduction of 10 to 30% [5].

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1.6 Disadvantage of natural fiber composite

One of the major difficulties of natural fibers is that their properties are basically dependent on
where they are grown (locality), what part of the plant they are harvested from (leaf or stem), the
maturity of the plant (age) and how the fibers are harvested and preconditioned in a form of mats
or chopped fibers, woven or unwoven. These factors result in significant variation in properties
compared to their synthetic fiber counterparts (glass, aramid and carbon) [3]. Obviously the
production and application of natural fiber reinforced parts also brings along some difficulties
[5]:

 For the production of non-woven: presence of shaves, dust, very short fibers.
 Uneven length distribution and uneven decortication of the fibers (especially for non-
woven).
 Irreproducible fiber quality combined with availability.
 Variations in non-woven quality and uniformity due to fiber quality variation.
 Moisture sensitivity, both during processing and during application.
 Limited heat resistance of the fibers.
 Specific smell of the parts.
 Limited fire retardancy.
 Variations in quality and uniformity of produced parts.

1.7 Historical development of natural fiber composite for automotive industries

The beginning of this new millennium witnesses a revival in the use of natural fibers as
composite reinforcement. Environmental issues are currently a relevant reason, which favor
natural fiber extracted from plants, also known as bio fibers or lignocellulosic fibers (LCF), and
is motivating numerous publications and industrial applications [1–10]. Additionally, economical
and technical advantages related to lower cost as well as social benefits in providing income to
local producers in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia, contribute to the tendency of LCF
substitution for synthetic fibers. For instance, some of the LCF‟s technical properties, such as
low density and superior toughness, represent important advantages over the glass fibers, in
“fiberglass” composites, as the reinforcement phase [11,12]. Today an expansion in industrial
uses of LCF composites as engineering materials is taking place and occupying traditional

18
“fiberglass” niches such as automobiles components, building plates, packaging, sport gears,
electrical parts, and medical prosthesis [9]. The vehicles manufacturing sector, in particular, is
adopting LCF composites at a fast rate in both interior and exterior components [29].

In the 1930s Henry Ford constructed a whole automobile body from hemp and presently
automobile manufacturers such as BMW and Mercedes are beginning to incorporate hemp into
car components [5]. The automotive industry which has in the last years developed various new
components based on natural fiber composites. Whereas in 1996 the total reported use of natural
fibers did not exceed 4.0 kton, by 1999 this had increased to more than 21 kton as reported by
the suppliers to the European automotive industry [2]. This figure includes next to flax fibers
also hemp, jute, sisal and kenaf, which all are used in composite production [6]. The use of flax
was reported by the suppliers to be approximately 1.6 kton in 1999, and expected to rise to 15 to
20 kton in the near future. The German and Austrian car industry alone employed 8.5 to 9 kton
flax fibers in the years 2000 and 2001 [7]. The introduction of every new car model increases the
demand –depending on the model- by 0.5 to 3 kton per year [8].

In cars in which natural fibres are employed, presently 5 to 10 kilo natural fibres (flax,hemp,
jute, etc.) per car are used. If the total European car industry would employ natural fibres, this
would mean a market potential for about 80 to 160 kton per year of natural fibres for
compression moulded parts in cars [5].

As a result of increasing demand for environmentally friendly materials and the aforementioned
excellent characteristics of natural fibers, there is growing interest in the use of natural fibers in
composite plastics in many areas and particularly the automotive industry for door panels, seat
backs, headliners, package trays, dashboards trunk liners and interior parts [5-6]. Today nearly
50 percent of vehicle internals are made of polymeric materials; in developed countries, the
average use of plastic in a vehicle is 120 kg, and the global average is around 105 kg which
accounts for 10-12 percent of the total vehicle weight [6-7].

Germany has established leadership in the use of using natural fiber composites. The German
auto manufacturers, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, and Volkswagen, have taken the initiative to
introduce natural fiber composites for interior and exterior applications. Two-thirds of all bio-
fibers consumed in the automotive industry within Europe take place in Germany where car

19
manufacturers are aiming to make every component of their vehicles either recyclable or
biodegradable. Statistics suggest that the total application of bio fibers in the European
automotive sector could rise to more than 100 000 t by 2010 [8]. The application of natural fibers
for automotive parts in different automotive manufacturers shown below in Table 1.6.

Table 1.2. Application of natural fibres in automotive parts [5].

20
Figure 1.12: Mercedes S class automotive components made from different bio-fiber reinforced composites [40].

Mercedes-Benz S-Class has 42.7 kg of natural fiber components: Door and pillar inners, head
liner, rear cargo shelf and trunk components, thermal insulation see Fig. 1.12 above and
Figs.1.13 below shows Injection molded Jute-PP automotive parts.

(a)

21
(b)

Fig. 1.13 (a) and (b) Injection molded Jute-PP automotive parts

Figure 1.14: Mercedes E class automotive components made from different bio-fiber reinforced composites [40].

22
Flax, hemp, sisal, wool and other natural fibers are used to make 50 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
components [40]. Fig. 1.14 above shows components of Mercedes s class made from some
natural fibers. Fig. 1.14 shows the evolution of natural fiber composites before 3000 years up to
now.

Fig.1.15 Evolution of natural fiber from before 3000 years up to now [48]

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Chapter Two

Methodology

Now there is much interest in natural fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials because of
their industrial applications and fundamental research. The main focus of this paper is to show
the development of natural fiber in automotive components production. In order gate the target,
showing the methodology, how to develop the natural fiber composite for automotive component
is very important. In this chapter will present the methodology of six recently published papers.
These are showing the recent methodology for developing the natural fiber composite for
automotive parts.

Concept selection of car bumper beam with developed hybrid bio-composite material done by
M.M. Davoodi , S.M. Sapuan , D. Ahmad , A. Aidy , A. Khalina and Mehdi Jonoobi. This study
focused on selecting the best geometrical bumper beam concept to fulfill the safety parameters of
the defined product design specification (PDS). The mechanical properties of developed hybrid
composite material were considered in different bumper beam concepts with the same frontal
curvature, thickness, and overall dimensions. The low-speed impact test was simulated under the
same conditions in Abaqus V16R9 software. Six weighted criteria, which were deflection, strain
energy, mass, cost, easy manufacturing, and the rib possibility were analyzed to form an
evaluation matrix. Topsis method was employed to select the best concept.

24
Fig. 2.1. Bumper beam conceptual selection flowchart.

25
 Fig. 2.2 Overall dimensions of different concepts.

Table 3.1 Finite element preliminary output data.

Topsis conceptual selection method

Six criteria‟s are nominated for eight alternative concepts and specialist appointed the weighted
values are appointed for every criterion. Topsis is an effective method for multi-criteria decision-
making (MCDM). The algorithm considers ideal and non-ideal solution and help decision maker

26
to evaluate ranking and select the best one. Topsis has been well utilized in project selection
material selection and other areas. The procedure of Topsis expressed in following steps:

where A1, A2, . . ., Am are potential alternatives that decision makers need to select and C1, C2, . .
., Cn are criterion, which evaluate the alternative performance are calculated, xij is the rating of
alternative Ai with respect to criterion Cj when wj is the weight of criterion Cj.
(1) Determine the normalized decision matrix.

(2) Calculate the weighted normalized decision matrix.

(3) Calculate the positive ideal and negative ideal solution:

Where I is associated with a benefit criterion, and J is associated with the cost criterion.
(4) Determine the separation measures, using the n-dimensional Euclidean distance. The
separation of each alternative from the ideal solution is given as:

Similarly, the separation from the negative ideal solution is given as:

27
(5) Determine the relative closeness to the ideal solution. The relative closeness of the alternative
Ai with respect to A+ is defined as:

(6) Rank the preference order. For ranking alternatives using this index and rank alternatives in
decreasing order.

Hybrid natural and glass fibers reinforced polymer composites material selection using
Analytical Hierarchy Process for automotive brake lever design done by M.R. Mansor , S.M.
Sapuan , E.S. Zainudin , A.A. Nuraini and A. Hambali. In this paper, the Analytical Hierarchy
Process (AHP) method was utilized in the selection of the most suitable natural fiber to be
hybridized with glass fiber reinforced polymer composites for the design of a passenger vehicle
center lever parking brake component. Thirteen (13) candidate natural based fiber materials for
the hybridization process were selected and analyzed to determine their overall scores in three
(3) main performance indices such as functional performance, weight and product cost.

The basic AHP structure can be represent like a tree, where it is divided into several sections or
levels, and the top level or level-1 is where the project goal or objectives is placed and defined.
Then, the second level or level-2 and at this level, the criteria or factors that influenced the goal
are defined. Finally at the bottom level or level-3, the set of alternatives or choices are placed
and defined where it corresponds to the identified potential solutions that is able to fulfill the
given criteria and achieves the desired goal, Fig 2.3. shows Hierarchical framework of decision
problem in selecting the best natural fiber to be hybridized with glass fiber reinforced polymer
composites for automotive parking brake lever design based on the formulated product design
specifications.

28
 Fig2.3 AHP methodology for material selection.

Table 2.1 Mechanical properties of lignocellulosic and glass fibers

Natural fiber composites with plant oil-based resin developed by A. O‟Donnell, M.A. Dweib
and R.P. Wool. In this paper, room-temperature cured natural fiber composites made using
soybean oil resin for large structure (houses, trucks and automotive parts) manufacturing are

29
presented. Vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) was used to manufacture the
composite materials in Fig. 2.4. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) testing was also
performed on all of the various composite panels following the standard ASTM D5023. Three-
point bending tests were conducted using a DMA machine by instruments.

Soybean oil is mainly composed of triglyceride molecules. Each triglyceride contains three fatty
acid chains joined by a glycerol center, as shown in Fig. 2.5; the fatty acid chains have 0–6
double bonds and vary in length from 16 to 22 carbon atoms in Fig. 2.5.

Fig. 2.4 Schematic showing vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding process and resin flow into the fiber bed.

30
Fig. 2.5 Chemical structure and reaction leading from triglyceride oil to acrylated epoxidized soybean oil.

Table 2.2 Natural fiber reinforcements used in AESO composites

Green composites: A review of adequate materials for automotive applications done by Georgios
Koronis , Arlindo Silva, Mihail Fontul. This paper is used by taking the three dominant resins
and combining them with the fibers that occupy similar areas in the fibers chart. Five different
composites were compared by using ternary chart.

31
Table 2.3 Properties of several natural fibers and E-glass. The values are adopted from the studies and database
of references inside the table are for price only.

Fig. 2.6 Mechanical performance of several fibers.

The acronyms listed in the table are the following: PLA represents the poly(lactic acid) and
PLLA is the poly-L-lactide, they are both thermoplastic aliphatic polyester. PHB stands for
polyhydroxybutyrate another aliphatic polyester, and PHBV is the copolymer poly(3-
hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate). Finally PP acronym represents the conventional
polypropylene polymer.
Table 2.4 Properties of natural polymers in relation with polypropylene. The values are adopted from other
studies. References inside the table are for price only.

32
Fig.2.7. Mechanical performance of several polymer resins.
Table 2.5 Properties of natural polymers in relation with polypropylene. The values are adopted rom other
studies References inside the table are for price only.

Fig. 2.8. Mechanical performance of several polymer resins.

Table 2.6 Mechanical properties of several green composites’ fibers and PP + GFR composites

33
Fig. 2.9. Mechanical performance of several fibers
Natural Fiber Blends- Filled Engineering Thermoplastic Composites For the Automobile
Industry done by Ertan Ozen , Alper Kiziltas, Esra Erbas Kiziltas & Douglas J. Gardner In this
study, engineering thermoplastic composites were prepared from natural fiber blends filled with
nylon 6. Natural fiber blends, mixtures of kenaf, flax and hemp fibers, were added to nylon 6
matrices under mixing and temperature. The engineering thermoplastic composites with varying
concentrations (from 5 to 20 wt. %) of natural fiber blends were prepared by injection molding
and compression molding.

34
Table 2.7: Composition of natural fiber blends-filled nylon 6 composites

Utilization of Carpet Waste as A Matrix in Natural Filler Filled Engineering Thermoplastic

Composites for Automotive Applications done by Alper Kiziltas & Douglas J. Gardner. The aim
of this proposed research is to explore the use of carpet waste, recycled nylon 6, 6 (RPA 6, 6)
and natural filler (microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)) for certain under-the-hood applications in
the automobile industry where conditions are too severe for commodity plastics to withstand. In
this study, engineering thermoplastic composites were fabricated that were reinforced with MCC
at up to 30 percent MCC to RPA 6, 6 weight ratios.
Table 2.8: Composition of the MCC-filled nylon 6, 6 composites.

35
Chapter Three

Result and Discussion

The results of the previous papers will discuss in this chapter. Their results are different as they
apply different methods. Their results discuss as follow:

M.M. Davoodi , S.M. Sapuan , D. Ahmad , A. Aidy , A. Khalina and Mehdi Jonoobi discussed
as Table 3.1 shows eight different concepts along with six weighted criteria. There are two
qualitative criteria, easy manufacturing and rib possibility, which have changed to the
quantitative in range one to five. One in the lowest and five in the highest possibility assigned to
different concepts. Strain energy and minimum deflection have been derived from FEA results.
Material estimated cost calculated based on the ingredient and material consumption‟s cost.
Material weight was calculated according to the density of the material, which has been found in
advance.

There are three elimination phases to narrow down the possible design concepts to the final
concept, named initial screening phase, decision matrix phase and evaluation phase. Decision
matrix based on initial screening was made by eight concepts and six criterions. Material cost,
product weight and maximum deflection have negative value, which should consider as a
negative value and the following present the evaluation phase (see Table 3.2), where A1, A2, . . .,
Am (Rows) are possible alternatives among which decision makers have to choose and C1, C2, . .
., Cn (column) are criteria with which alternative performance are measured, xij is the rating of
alternative Ai with respect to criterion Cj while wj is the weight of criterion Cj. The matrix
normalized between 0–1 to make it dimensionless by formula (see Tables 3.3–3.7). As shown in
Table 3.7, it is selected the Double Hat Profile with 0.841321 score as a best concept among
eight different concepts.
Table 3.1 Evaluation matrix for selecting the best profile concept.

36
Table 3.2 Decision matrix for selecting the concepts of bumper beam.

Table 3.3 Normalized matrix.

Table 3.4 Weighted normalized decision matrix.

37
Table 3.5 the positive and negative ideal solution matrix.

Table 3.6 Separation of each alternative from the ideal solution.

Table 3.7 The relative closeness to the ideal solution.

M.R. Mansor , S.M. Sapuan , E.S. Zainudin , A.A. Nuraini and A. Hambali gate a result by using
AHP analysis as shown in Fig. 3.1 and Table 3.8 suggested that kenaf bast fiber is the most
suitable candidate material to be hybridized with glass fiber reinforced polymer composites for
the design of a passenger vehicle center lever parking brake component. Kenaf bast fiber scored
the highest priority value of 0.129 or 12.9%, followed by pineapple leaf fiber (0.114), oil palm
EFB fiber (0.097) and other type of natural fibers based on the overall design intent used in the
analysis.

Table 3.8 Rank of alternative priorities obtained by simulating three scenarios of sensitivity analysis for different
main criteria with respect to goal.

38
Fig. 3.1 Overall results of the material selection.

39
Fig. 3.2 3D CAD model of a commercial passenger vehicle center lever parking brake design in (a) assembly
view, and (b) exploded view.

A. O‟Donnell, M.A. Dweib and R.P. Wool states Composite panels were made out of the 14
different fiber mats listed in Table 2.2. The storage modulus, E‟, the loss modulus, E‟‟ and the
glass transition temperature, Tg, were measured at a temperature range of 35 – 150 oC for the
various room-temperature cured acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO) natural fiber
composites. The results are summarized in Figs. 3.3 and 3.4. The storage modulus E‟ of the neat
resin was 1.1 GPa and with natural fiber reinforcements, E‟ increased up to more than 5 GPa at
approximately 50 wt% fiber. Dynamic mechanical analysis testing showed that with natural fiber
reinforcement, the storage modulus of the soybean oil resin improved to more than five times
with recycled paper.

40
Fig. 3.3 Storage modulus of the different composite specimens using a DMA three-point bending clamp system.
Values were collected at a DMA temperature of 37 0C.

Fig. 3.4 Loss modulus of different composite specimens using a DMA three-point bending clamp system. Values
were collected at a DMA temperature of 37 0C and maximum E’’.

41
Georgios Koronis , Arlindo Silva and Mihail Fontul showing their results as follows: Following
the choices presented for the two basic elements regarding the green composites composition,
another familiar diagram was created but this time containing a prospect green composite which
is presented in Fig.3. 6. Taking the three dominant resins (Fig.3.5 on the left) and combining
them with the fibers that occupy similar areas in the fibers chart on the right of Fig.3.5, five
different composites were compared. Consequently, the combinations were: PLA-flax, PLA-
kenaf, PLLA-curaua, PLLA-hemp and PHB-ramie. The values of the mechanical performances
of each composite were calculated by the rule of mixtures adopting the values from Tables 2.3
and 2.4, likewise the cost of each composite was calculated by the percentages of the materials
that it incorporates (30% reinforcement and 70% resin). The results are not expected to be
accurate in absolute terms but are considered accurate enough to have a quick snapshot of
parallel comparison in relative performance. Once more, the possible composites with low
overall ranks did not appear on the diagram. Specifically in that comparison, PLA flax ranked
first both in average specific strength and cost/volume while PHB-Ramie was the stiffest of all
composites and therefore these two dominated all the other candidates. When the relative
importance of specific stiffness in the selection process is higher than 30% PHB-ramie is the best
selection, regardless of the other factors. The rest of possible green composites had performance
and cost values much lower than those two while not showing appreciable values. The final
diagram could have been different if other sets of constituent materials were chosen, however it
was preferred to combine those that were emerging as better choices in the same regions of both
diagrams of Fig. 3.5.

42
Fig.3. 5. Ternary diagrams of the resin for matrix, on the left, and fibers for reinforcement, on the right.

Fig.3.6.Ternary diagram of green composites.

43
Ertan Ozen , Alper Kiziltas, Esra Erbas Kiziltas and Douglas J. Gardner discussed that Fig. 3.7,
Fig.3.8 and Table 3.9 show tensile strength and elongation at break of the neat Nylon 6 and
natural fiber blends filled composites. It was observed that neat Nylon 6 exhibits a nonlinear
elastic behavior with a tensile strength of 27.95 MPa and an elongation at break of 1.09%. None
of composites including neat Nylon 6 showed signs of stress yielding. This led to the conclusion
that the mechanism behind the elongation and rupture of the composites was quite similar
compared to neat Nylon 6. The composite reinforced with natural fiber blends displayed
enhanced tensile properties in comparison with the neat Nylon 6. Because of better compatibility
as well as better stress- transfer properties, tensile strength of composites was larger (reaching
values 61.99 MPa with the addition of 20% natural fiber blends. Tensile strength increased by
119% with 20% natural fiber blends addition. According to the literature, the tensile strength of
Nylon 6 composites also increased with 20% Brazilian curaua fiber, alpha cellulose and
microcrystalline cellulose additions. Similar to tensile strength, elongation at break of
composites was longer (reaching values 2.92% with addition of 20% kenaf fibers).

Figure 3.7: Effect of natural fiber blends loading on tensile strength of natural fiber blends filled Nylon 6
composites

Table 3.9: Summary of mechanical properties of nylon 6 and composites.

44
Figure 3.8: Elongation at break as function of natural fiber blends loading for natural fiber blends filled Nylon
6.

45
Figure 3.8: Tensile modulus of elasticity of neat Nylon 6 and natural fiber blends filled composites

Figure 3.9: Effect of natural fiber blends loading on tensile strength of natural fiber blends filled Nylon 6
composites.

46
Alper Kiziltas and Douglas J. Gardner reported their results such a manner: The tensile strength,
tensile modulus of elasticity and elongation at break were determined from the stress and strain
curves and the results are presented in Table 3.10. It was observed that recycled nylon 6, 6
exhibits a nonlinear elastic behavior with a tensile strength of 26.2 MPa and an elongation at
break of 0.83 %. None of composites including the recycled nylon 6, 6 showed signs of stress
yielding. The composite reinforced with MCC displayed enhanced tensile properties in
comparison with the recycled nylon 6, 6. Because of better stress-transfer properties, the tensile
strength of the composites was greater (reaching values of 54.9 MPa with the addition of 20 wt%
MCC). Tensile strength increased by 109% with 20% MCC addition. After 20 wt% MCC
addition, the tensile strength decreased but it was greater than recycled nylon 6, 6. The reason
why tensile strength decreased after 20 wt% MCC addition was attributed to very little or no
stress-transfer properties in the higher weight percent MCC-filled composite. In Table 3.10,
elongation at break of composites was greater (reaching values of 1.98 % with addition of 20
wt% MCC). The reason for this might be better dispersion below 20 wt% MCC addition. With
high filler contents, the degree of MCC-MCC interaction became more prominent and, as a
consequence, a reduction in elongation at break was observed. Tensile and flexural modulus of
elasticity increased with the addition of microcrystalline cellulose. Incorporation of MCC
particles into RPA 6, 6 also resulted in a considerable decrease of creep compliance.

Table 3.10: Summary of mechanical properties of recycled Nylon 6, 6 and MCC filled composites.

Figure 3.10 shows the creep compliance of recycled nylon 6 and MCC filled composites at
various temperatures at 167 min. It can be clearly seen that with an increase in temperature the
creep compliance increases for recycled nylon 6, 6 and MCC filled composites, which indicates
the temperature-activated softening of polymer matrix as a result of reduction of stiffness of
entangled networks of polymer chains.

47
Figure 3.10: Creep compliance at different temperatures at 167min.

48
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55