MECHANICAL AND VISCOELASTIC PROPERTIES OF SHORT-FIBER-REINFORCED NATURAL-RUBBER COMPOSITES - EFFECTS OF INTERFACIAL ADHESION, FIBER LOADING, AND ORIENTATION

The effect of a two-component dry bonding system consisting of resorci nol and hexamethylene tetramine on the mechanical and viscoelastic pro perties of short sisal fiber reinforced natural rubber composites has been studied. The studies were conducted with chemically treated and u ntreated short sisal fibers. Treated fibers impart better mechanical p roperties to the composites. By mixing with short fibers, the dynamic storage modulus (E') of natural rubber composites was improved. The ef fects of fiber-matrix adhesion on the mechanical and viscoelastic prop erties of the composites were investigated. The storage moduli and mec hanical loss increased continuously with an increase in fiber loading but decreased with an increase of temperature. The influence of the fi ber orientation on the mechanical and viscoelastic properties is discu ssed.