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Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

Posted August 05, 2013 10:24 AM by Doug Sharpe

Fiber reinforced polymers (FRPs) are a relatively new category of composite materials that combine stiffness and strength with weight reduction and corrosion resistance. Known also as polymer matrix composites (PMCs), these fiber-reinforced materials typically contain glass, carbon, basalt, aramid, or asbestos. In recent years, however, scientists and engineers have begun experimenting with fibers from plant-based materials such as flax, hemp, jute, sisal, and now coconut.

Bridges, Buildings, and Bioplastics

According to a May 2012 study by members of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Auckland (New Zealand), coconut fibers have the highest toughness among natural materials. In an era of budgetary constraints, that's good news for civil engineers who are seeking cost-effective alternatives to steel. Coconut fiber reinforced concrete (CFRC) may also strengthen members of the building and construction industry who want to "go green" without breaking the bottom line.

What about coconut fibers and bioplastics? Unlike traditional plastics, which are made from petroleum and fossil fuels, bio-based materials have a smaller carbon footprint. They are partially or wholly derived from renewable resources, but not necessarily biodegradable. Today, applications for bioplastics include everything from cell phone cases to food and beverage packaging. Given the strength of coconut husks, could coir join corn on the material science menu?

Focus on the Future

At Ford Motor company, the future already has a tropical flavor. As Plastics News reported in the fall of 2011, the American automaker began studying the use of coconut husks (coir) as a PMC reinforcement. The Blue Oval is already using wheat straw as a filler in door trim bins, soybean oil-based urethane foam in seats, and a castor oil blend in instrument panels.

By using coconut fibers to reinforce plastic auto parts, Ford can reduce the amount of petroleum-based plastic that's needed while lightening part weight. In the Focus Electric, coconut fibers are used in a 50-50 blend with polypropylene to reinforce the trunk floor. According to Natural Fiber Composites, Inc., one of Ford's supply chain partners, the company's Cocofelt material was runner-up at the 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers Automotive Innovation Awards.

The Future of FRPs

What do members of the CR4 community think about bioplastics? How about fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) that use coconut husks? On LinkedIn, members of the Society of Plastics Engineer group have been discussing this topic. What about the engineers and technical professionals who contribute to the many great discussions here?

About the Author: Doug Sharpe is the President of Elasto Proxy, Inc. (Boisbriand, Quebec, Canada), supplier of sealing solutions and custom-fabricated rubber and plastic parts to a variety of industries, including automotive and construction.

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#1

Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/06/2013 4:07 AM

Fibre Reinforced Polymers...
Or 'wood' as I call it .

A good concept in my book, I'll bet there are some great properties to be exploited.
I'd have thought hemp and flax would be good too.
Del

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#2
In reply to #1

Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/06/2013 11:27 AM

It this is being considered as a steel replacement in bridge design (for example) it likely has some weight advantages. However, I would suspect that it would somehow need to be flame retardant!!!

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#3
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Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/06/2013 2:54 PM

Yes, hemp plastics also offer an alternative to petroleum-based plastics. Henry Ford knew this, and designed a "hemp car" during World War II that used a significant amount of a hemp-based bioplastic.

Flax bioplastics are used in auto parts today – and not just in electric cars either. Several Mercedes Benz models use flax-based plastics in the engine and transmission cover, as well as in the underbody panels.

So are coconut husk polymers being considered as a steel replacement in bridge design? We've read "yes," but haven't found much detail. As this study indicates, however, a related application is using them as an aggregate in cement.

As for whether coir is flame-retardant, that's a point well-taken! We will continue to research this one our end and share what we find with the CR4 community.

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#4

Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/08/2013 8:50 AM

Has anyone looked at the use of palm tree trunk fiber as a source? Reasoning, even when it has been dead for quite some time, the fibrous structure of the trunk makes it hard to cut or tear apart. There is another discussion where the use of natural fiber info may be evaluated. This would be the use of natural fibers in conjunction with carbon fibre structures that are being made with new German developed / embedded RFID designs. Or, are the two types of materials not miscible.

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#5
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Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/08/2013 10:10 AM

Thanks for your question and comment, warrens 50. Yes, there has been some research into using palm tree trunk fiber - and for exactly the reasons you mention. This study about oil palm trunk fiber (OPTF) and concrete reinforcement is worth a read. In addition to having high compressive, tensile, and flexural strength, OPTF is a crack arrester and improves resistance against chemical attack.

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#6
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Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/08/2013 11:29 AM

The testing was done in 2010 with Oil Palm and in Malaysia. Are there any other studies in process using other palm species as well as locations around the world? Not knowing what the building codes have or have not approved, is there or has there been interest in using palm fiber in the building construction trades? Particularly, in the US?? It would seem that with the huge amount of palms available, speed at which they grow and general availability across much of the southern US, ie cabbage palms etc., that the palm fibre would be a desirable extender of the concrete mix and help with structure stability.

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Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/08/2013 1:59 PM

Excellent questions, warrens50, but I must defer to CR4's structural engineers. Do we have any following this thread? I hope so.

Although Elasto Proxy does serve the building and construction industry, we specialize in the custom fabrication of plastic and rubber parts. So while we've worked with highway departments before - and think that alternative concrete aggregates are important! - we know enough to admit what we don't know.

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#16
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Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/14/2013 4:10 PM

Warrens50:

You may see what seem like a huge number of palms in South Florida, but that doesn't necessarily mean a 'huge amount of palms' is available.

Most palms grow at a pretty slow pace. A select few are noted as exhibiting slow to moderate growth.

From what I've noticed, it doesn't look like there are many people anxiois to convert their palms into fiber.

Considering only the fact that palm trees are so frequently added to landscaping as mature trees (for what other tree is this task even attempted?) suggest the growth rate is exceedingly slow and the value of the trunk is probably far higher live than in concrete.

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#8

Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/11/2013 2:25 PM

'...coconut fibers have the highest toughness among natural materials...' . . . . That statement is overreaching a bit, don't you think?

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Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/12/2013 10:03 AM

The statement, "Coconut fibres have the highest toughness amongst natural fibres", can be found in this abstract of a study by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Auckland.

Our blog's statement, "Coconut fibers have the highest toughness among natural materials," paraphrases this finding - perhaps imprecisely. In your opinion, should we have written, "Coconut fibers have the highest toughness among natural fibers" (instead of materials) instead?

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Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/12/2013 12:09 PM

I think the question may be what the heck is 'toughness?'
Dunno that there is a definition of it or an appropriate SI unit...
I'm happy to be proved wrong tho'
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#11
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Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/12/2013 2:05 PM

In our industry (rubber and plastic), toughness describes a polymer's ability to withstand ripping and tearing - even in harsh environments.

In a more general material-science sense, however, toughness refers to a material's ability to absorb energy and plastically deform without fracturing.

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Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/13/2013 11:30 PM

I'm not taking issue with the various definitions used for toughness, fracture toughness, stress intensity factor, etc.....though knowing more specifics is typically helpful. . . .

My point of contention is that the abstract has either: repeated the statement out of context/without including key limitations needed for the statement to be true, i.e. 'among natural fibers considered in this research (totalling 5)'....hypothetically; or the paper is wrong. . . .

Exchanging 'materials' for 'fibers' expands the claim without support, which generally could have tge result of transforming an otherwise valid statement into one that is not. This did not happen in this particular case because the original more restricted statement wasn't valid to begin with. . . .

Spider silk qualifies as a natural fiber. Toughness of spider silk by any standard measure exceeds most known natural fibers by significant margins.

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Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/14/2013 11:56 AM

Your criticism of the abstract is well-taken. So if we could communicate with the authors, we might ask them this: "You're telling us that coconut fibers are 'the best', but what 'good' fibers did you compare them to? Because there can't be a 'best' unless you've compared it to something that's less than 'best'. Also, what do you mean by "natural" fibers? Are you only talking about those that are plant-based? Because there are fibers in nature (e.g., spider silk) that are 'natural' but not plant-based."

Do you think that the authors wrote this abstract themselves? Or did someone else (maybe an editor at Elsevier) write it with an eye towards selling the study instead of summarizing its full findings? Without buying and reading the entire paper, I can't fairly call the paper wrong or flawed. Presumably, the full study contains more detail. And perhaps it answers the question of "coconut fibers compared to what?

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#14
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Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/14/2013 3:03 PM

Non-combative openness to criticism is a characteristic of a person capable of providing valuable council.

I don't know who wrote the abstract, amd whether the overstatement (or under-bound/ insufficiently limited claim) was unintentional or had purpose. I am willing to say that the abstract iss at least misleading (we have first hand evidence of its ability to mislead). I haven't read the paper.

The obvious possible motive would be to encourage additional and new utilization of coconut fibers, improving utilization, decreasing waste, and probably improving profits of coconut processors. Not exactly evil goals, if it were intentional. Even if coconut processing interests are large supporters of the University of Aukland, it doesn't mean it was necessarily intentional.

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Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/14/2013 3:21 PM

A company in the EU called Enkev has been working with fibrous material, including coconut fiber, since 1932. I have sent the blog link to them and asked for comment. Hopefully, there will be some other, independent info to shed light about this issue.

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Re: Coconut Husks and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

08/14/2013 4:56 PM

Thank you, truth is not a compromise. I'm enjoying this conversation and hope we can keep it going. If warrens50 is successful in getting Enkev to comment on this blog entry, it sounds like we may have some additional information to consider. Again, looking forward to it.

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