Determination of tensile properties and moisture effect of areca leaf sheath subjected to flattening process
Areca leaf sheaths (ALS) have been utilized widely to make sustainable disposable dining wares. However, ALS could be damaged during the storage period, due to stacking weight acting on its concaved structure. Besides, there is little understanding about the effect of moisture content (MC) on me...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/6498/1/24p%20JONG%20OI%20KA.pdf http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/6498/2/JONG%20OI%20KA%20COPYRIGHT%20DECLARATION.pdf http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/6498/3/JONG%20OI%20KA%20WATERMARK.pdf |
| Summary: | Areca leaf sheaths (ALS) have been utilized widely to make sustainable disposable
dining wares. However, ALS could be damaged during the storage period, due to
stacking weight acting on its concaved structure. Besides, there is little understanding
about the effect of moisture content (MC) on mechanical properties of ALS, which is
crucial for the heat pressing process to produce good quality products. This research
aimed to investigate the tensile properties of ALS under the effect of flattening process
and MC. In addition, the ALS fiber is characterized (morphology and chemical
composition). The effect of flattening process parameters and soaking time (to
manipulate MC) on tensile properties of ALS were studied by conducting Design of
Experiment (DOE) of tensile tests. Results from the tensile tests were analyzed using
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) techniques on Minitab 18 statistical analysis software.
It is found that the ALS fiber is a type of short fiber (1.77 mm). Meanwhile, the
chemical composition of ALS reports a lower α-cellulose content (30.30%), but a high
lignin content (14.40%) which explains its high rigidity. Next, the flattening process
at 5 bar pressure yielded the highest ultimate tensile strength (UTS) (31.858 MPa) for
ALS in grain direction, and the highest elongation at break (EB) (41.576%) in
transverse direction. Subsequently, in DOE 2, MC has found to be affecting the tensile
properties of ALS significantly below the fiber saturation point. Below this point, the
UTS of ALS decreases, and the EB increases as the soaking time increases
correspondingly. In conclusion, the tensile behaviors of ALS under flattening and
soaking processes are investigated together with its chemical properties and fiber
morphology. This study is important to serve as a process guideline for the production
of disposable dining wares. |
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