Resumen de Valoración de materiales compuestos de HDPE reforzados con fibras de Agave sisalana. Aproximación a un paradigma de geometría fractal para las fibras
Natural fibers have been used recently as reinforcement of polymer-matrix based composites. The present thesis examines the mechanical properties of high density polyethylene (HDPE) composite reinforced with sisal fiber, at different percentages of coupling agent. It extends the study of matrix-fiber’s interfacial shear strength (IFSS). Firstly, a standard modelization by Kelly-Tyson method is done. Later on, a deeper study of sisal fiber at nanometric level is carried out using microscope techniques such as atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to sort out the real surface roughness of the sisal fiber inside the composite. Fiberglass has been used to compare with. According to the obtained results, a fractal roughness model is proposed for sisal fibers and extrapolated to all natural fibers, which do not have a circular cross section. Moreover, the fractal model is introduced in the standard KT model. Finally, the interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of the composite from the classical model is compared with the one from proposed model
