Effect of fiber surface treatments in HDPE-henequen short fiber-reinforced composites: Static characterization and fatigue

Lately, lignocellulosic fibers have been used as reinforcement materials for different polymer-based composites due to their attractive physical and mechanical properties that, unlike synthetic fibers, they can impart certain benefits such as low density, less machine wear, the absence of health hazards and a high degree of flexibility to the material. Mechanical properties and the fracture behavior of a polymer composite reinforced with natural fiber depend not only on the properties of the components but also on the properties of the region surrounding the fiber, known as the interface, where the stress transfers. The improvement of the interfacial region by surface treatments translates into a better performance of the composites reinforced with natural fibers under any regime of mechanical stress. The objective of this work is to study the effect of the interface properties, as a result of well-controlled surface treatment of natural fibers, on the behavior of a ductile polymeric matrix compound under quasi-static load and dynamic load. Then, fatigue tensile behavior was studied by evaluating the material stiffness degradation, which is regularly used to identify fatigue failure mechanisms. Additionally, in order to assess the fracture mechanisms, produced as a result of a damage process, the acoustic emission technique was used. Based on the acoustic response (amplitude, magnitude of energy released, and time of arrival), signals were analyzed establishing an algorithm for each acoustic event and the contribution of each signal from the different levels of interfacial fiber/matrix adhesion. Graphical abstract