| Abstract Scope |
Continuous natural fiber reinforced plastics (cNFRP) has attracted much attention as an alternative of glass fiber reinforced plastics for sustainable development. In the present study, new fabrication method, such as “micro-braiding technique”, was developed to obtain an intermediate materials called “micro-braided yarn (MY)”. MY consists of a central natural fiber yarn braided with thermoplastic fiber yarns. After heat forming of Moby’s, the thermoplastic fiber yarns become matrix. We focused on the heat forming condition on the mechanical properties of cNFRP. A reinforcement and matrix were hemp and poly(lactic acid) fiber yarns, respectively. Tensile shear and interfacial shear tests were conducted on the specimens. Strength increased with increasing forming temperature and forming pressure. On the other hand, successive forming temperature and pressure thermally and mechanically degraded reinforcing fiber yarns. There was a positive correlation between tensile strength and interfacial strength, however no relation was observed between modulus and interfacial strength. |