Tribo Performance of T-bfrp Composite Subjected to Dry/Wet Contact Conditions - Natural Polymers, Biopolymers, Biomaterials, and Their Composites, Blends, and IPNs - page 302

matrix. In previous works (Yousif and El-Tayeb, 2008a, 2010), the interfacial adhesion
of oil palm fibers was highly improved when the fiber was treated with 6% NaOH.
For the current work, the effect of treatment on the interfacial adhesion property of
betelnut fiber and its effect on the tribological behavior of the polyester composite will
be explained.
The prepared fine fibers (Nirmal and Yousif, 2009) were arranged and pressed into
uniform mats and the mats were then cut into the dimensions of the composite fabrica-
tion mould. The density of the fibers in mat sheets was determined to be about 200 ±
10 g/m 2 . Figure 1(c) shows a micrograph of a randomly oriented treated betelnut fiber
mat. The average distance of the fiber in the mat was about 83 ± 5 μm.
(a) Micrograph of a single untreated fibre
(b) Micrograph of a single treated fibre
(c) Micrograph of treated fibre mat
Figure 1. Micrographs of betelnut fiber. (a) Micrograph of a single untreated fiber; (b) Micrograph of
a single treated fiber; (c) Micrograph of treated fiber mat.