Browsing by Author "Eselini, Najah Hashmi N."
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thesis.listelement.badge INVESTIGATIONS OF FLAX FIBER AND BASALT FIBER CONTAINING POLY(LACTIC ACID) HYBRID ECO-COMPOSITES(2017-05-02) Eselini, Najah Hashmi N.; TİRKEŞ, Seha; TAYFUN, ÜmitIn this study, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) was reinforced with flax fiber (FF) and basalt fiber (BF) as both individually and together hybrid forms. BF and FF containing PLA eco-composites were prepared using twin-screw micro-compounder at the total constant mixing ratio of 30 wt%. Test specimens were shaped by lab-scale injection- molding. Mechanical properties, thermo-mechanical characteristics, flow behaviors and morphological properties of composites were investigated by tensile, Shore hardness, impact tests, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), melt flow index (MFI) test and scanning electron microscopy technique (SEM), respectively. Mechanical test results show that tensile strength, percentage strain, elastic modulus and impact strength are extend up to higher values with increase in BF content in hybrid composites. On the contrary, presence of FF displays negative effect in which these values drop down drastically as the FF concentration increases. On the other hand, slightly higher hardness values are obtained by the addition of FF at higher loadings. DMA analysis reveals that BF inclusion leads glass transition temperature of PLA to one point higher but hybrid and FF containing composites shift that temperature to lower values. Similarly with mechanical test results, storage modulus of composites enhance with increase in BF concentration and remarkable decreases are observed for FF filled composites. MFI results display that additions of FF and BF individually cause fourfold and twofold increase for MFI value of PLA. Hybrid composites exhibit average MFI values between PLA/FF and PLA/BF composites. According to SEM analysis, basalt fibers disperse more homogeneously in PLA matrix as compared with flax fibers.