Abstract

LAZARO LEON, Karen Catherine; GONZALES MORA, Héctor E.  and  CARDENAS OSCANOA, Aldo J.. Mechanical properties of the composite material made with bamboo (Guadua angustifolia Kunth) and polypropylene. Rev. mex. de cienc. forestales [online]. 2016, vol.7, n.38, pp.95-110. ISSN 2007-1132.

Composite materials have been utilized since ancient times. Natural fibers have been used as reinforcement for plastic matrices since 1939, because they offer certain advantages compared to synthetic fibers: they are renewable, biodegradable, less abrasive, do not cause eye irritation, and their production involves less energy demand. Particles from the apical parts of residual bamboo (Guadua angustifolia) canes were used in this study to obtain composite polypropylene (PP) materials, with or without a coupling agent (maleic anhydride-polypropylene, MAPP). These materials were made using the extrusion/compression method, with -20/+40, -40/+60 and -60/+80 ASTM mesh sizes; 50/50, 40/60 and 30/70 mixing ratios, and 0 and 2 % MAPP. A total of 18 formulations were obtained, and their mechanical properties of tension, flexion and impact were assessed. The results show that the materials had the best values for tension, flexion and impact with the -60/+80 mesh size and the 30/70 ratio, and that MAPP improves the properties of composite materials made with bamboo. Resistance to impact for composite materials is directly proportional when a coupling agent is added.

Keywords : Bamboo; flexion; impact; composite materials; polypropylene; tension.