Volume 11, Issue 3, 2002

Morphological Study of Sisal Fibres

S.-L. Bai1, R. K.Y. Li2, Y.-W. Mai3, C.M.L. Wu2

1Department of Mechanics and Engineering Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People’s Republic of China, baisl@mech.pku.edu.cn 
2Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong 
3Centre for Advanced Materials Technology, Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

(Received 1/02; accepted 6/02)

Abstract

A sisal fibre has microstructures very different from those of synthetic fibres. The special microstructures consist of parallel cells and a cuticle-interface in the form of a continuous network around each cell. The flexible interface and solid cells play an independent role to toughen and strengthen the sisal fibre, respectively. Upon loading, the cell can behave in a brittle or a ductile fashion. The main failure mechanisms of a sisal fibre are the pullout and uncoiling of cells and the debonding of a not very strong interface/cell interface. Therefore, debonding of this interface represents the first initial damage of a sisal fibre composite.

KeyWords sisal fibre, morphology, microstructures, interfacial debonding

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