Flexural properties and orthotropic swelling behavior of bagasse/thermoplastic composites

The flexural properties of commercial bagasse-filled polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) composites were determined as a function of strain rate at room temperature. The applied strain rates were 1.5 ×10-4, 3.75×10-4, 7.5×10-4, and 1.5×10-3 s-1. The flexural modulus tended to increase linearly for the two types of composites with the logarithm of strain rate. The bending strength of polypropylene composite also behaved in a similar manner, but the polyethylene composite exhibited different behavior in which the MOR values of polyethylene composite didn’t alter appreciably as a function of strain rate. The flexural response of a polypropylene-based composite was found to exhibit higher dependency on strain rate than a polyethylene-based composite. Water absorption of both composites followed the kinetics of a Fickian diffusion process. Water absorption and dimensional instability of PE-based composites were lower than those of PP-based composites. The highest swelling took place in the thickness of the samples, followed by the width and length, respectively.