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Natural fibers have recently become an alternative reinforcement for composite products owing to their light-weightiness, renewability and biodegradability. However, they have certain drawbacks including hygroscopic nature, low compatibility with the polymer matrices and inferior mechanical properties when compared to synthetic fibers. This study aims to develop a one-way enset fiber-reinforced polypropylene (PP) composite. In this study, long and aligned enset fibers were interlaced with PP yarns to form a woven mat. The mat was surface treated, and later the film stacking method was applied to develop the composite via hot pressing. The mechanical properties of the developed composites were characterized. The results showed that bis[3-(triethoxysilyl) propyl] tetrasulfide (1.5 wt% Si69) and 3glycidyloxy propyl trimethoxy silane (5 wt%GPs) treated unidirectional enset fiber woven mat showed the highest tensile strength which shows an increase of 266.98% and 218.14%, respectively, relative to the pure PP. In terms of flexural strength, enset fibers treated with NaOH (3.5 wt%) and EVsi69 (1.5 wt%) showed the greatest improvement of 218.14% and 151.64% respectively over pure PP. Therefore, the developed composite samples confirmed that enset fiber can be effectively reinforced with PP for the application of automotive and construction industries.

In this study, the Enset fibers were equally divided lengthwise from bottom to top into four portions explicitly 0–300 mm (EV-I),300–600 mm (EV-II), 600–900 mm (EV-III), and 900–1200 mm (EV-IV), and the physio-mechanical properties were investigated at three different GL (Gauge length). The distribution of the physical properties of the mass, cross-sectional area, linear density, and diameter was decreased along the fibers portion from bottom to top at three different tests GL. In terms of mechanical property distributions, the Enset fiber’s tensile strength grew considerably at around the height of over 25% of the portion along the length (EV-300) from the bottom and reduced marginally at its top places in each test GL. Regarding the significance of tensile properties, the overall ANOVA has no significant difference while the interaction between the locations along the length of enset fiber has a significant difference, and this variation is also confirmed by the Weibull distribution. The current study looks into the physical and mechanical properties of Enset fibers, which are controlled by the position of the leave sheath, which is used as an input to optimize its variation for unidirectional composite applications.

The hairy skin of the human body is the main receptor of fabric contact. In order to evaluate clothing comfort objectively, electroneurophysiological tests with nine subjects were carried out to determine their cognitive differences in fabric static and dynamic contact. Electroencephalography and electrocardiography signals were collected when the subjects statically and dynamically touched a piece of polyester fabric with their forearms. According to their electroneurophysiological responses to fabric contact, the subjects could be categorized into three different types, namely, extraordinary, ordinary and nonsensitive ones. Their different sensitivity could be observed from the activities of α waves, sympathetic nervous system and pneumogastric nervous system. The extraordinarily sensitive subject responded to the fabric–skin static contact with an intensive α rhythm reaction followed by a suppressed α wave, an enhanced activity of the sympathetic nervous system and a mild participation of the pneumogastric nervous system. During dynamic contact, the pneumogastric nervous system activity increased greatly to balance the nervous system. The ordinarily sensitive subjects responded gently to the fabric–skin static contact, with a gradually suppressed α wave, an enhanced activity of the sympathetic nervous system and the near absence of the pneumogastric nervous system. Fabric dynamic contact induced a strong α rhythm reaction followed by a suppressed α wave combined with a joint effort of the sympathetic nervous system and pneumogastric nervous system. The nonsensitive subjects responded with almost no difference between the fabric–skin static and dynamic contact in both electroencephalography and electrocardiography tests. This preliminary study could provide an efficient way to identify different types of subjects and lay a fair ground for comparison purposes in future electroneurophysiological studies of clothing comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Flax and jute fabrics are adapted to reinforce epoxy matrix composites in order to explore the feasibility of repladng wood in percussion instruments. The fabrics are treated with alkaline solutions to improve interfacial adhesion between fibers and epoxy. The composites are fabricated using the hand-lay and vacuum assisted resin infusion process. Acoustic dynamic moduli, acoustic radiation damping coeffirients, and acoustic impedances of the composites are tested and compared with those of the wood regularly used to make the percussion instruments. It is found that the acoustic properties of the composites are within the range of those of the wood, indicating that it could be feasible to replace the wood with natural cellulose fiber reinforced composites in percussion instrument production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]