Thesis (Ph. D.)--Universität Zürich. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [129]-134).

The problem of investigating the adaptability of plant fibers for basketry was two-fold. The first part was the selection and preparation of the plants. Suitable collection time, drying methods, and processing and soaking procedures were determined through a series of experiments, performed during each season of the year. In the second part experimental samples were woven by using the basic basketry techniques to illustrate the usability and versatility of each plant fiber. The survey of forty plants proved that there are readily available plants suitable for basketry. The simplicity of the process, the ready availability of plants, the nominal cost of supplies, and the variety of visual elements obtainable were advantages realized from this investigation.

Thesis (MFor ) -- University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The bulk of paper grades destined for the printing industry are produced on modern paper machines which continuously become wider and faster. In order to improve printability, print quality and dimensional stability, such papers contain a large percentage of mineral pigments either in the form of internal loading or external coatings. Although mineral pigments exercise a substantial beneficial effect on paper surface quality, unfortunately these minerals do not contribute towards sheet strength and machine runnability. Today's papermakers are faced with the dilemma of producing highly filled and coated printing papers with low grammages on faster running paper machines, but often lacking the required quality of fibre resources to secure a smooth runnability of such at high speeds. Standard fibre furnishes will have to be upgraded with special types of reinforcing fibres in order to meet the demands of sheet strength and machine runnability. The investigation had succeeded to identify a new suitable fibre resource, which would satisfy the demand of a reinforcing type natural material. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die oorgrootte meerderheid tipes papier wat vir die drukkersbedryf bestem is, word op moderne papiermasjiene vervaardig wat steeds breër en vinniger word. Om die drukbaarheid, drukkwaliteit en dimensionele stabiliteit te verbeter, bevat sulke papiere groot hoeveelhede minerale pigmente wat in die vorm van interne ladings of as eksterne bestrykings teenwoordig is. Alhoewel minerale pigmente -n merkbare voordelige effek op die papier oppervlakte-kwaliteit uittoefen, dra sulke pigmente ongelukkig nie by tot die sterkte en loopvermoë van die papier nie. Die hedendaagse papiervervaardiger word konfronteer met die dilemma om swaar gevuldeen bestrykte drukpapiere met lae oppervlaktegewig op vinniger lopende papiermasjiene te vervaardig. Dit gebeur dikwels sonder die beskikbaarheid van die nodige hoëkwaliteit veselbronne om te verseker dat die loopvermoë van die papier teen hoë spoed nie benadeel word nie. Standaard veselsamestellings salopgegradeer moet word met spesiale tipe versterkingsvesels om aan die uitdaging van hoë velsterkte en masjien-Ioopvermoë te voldoen. Hierdie ondersoek het daarin geslaag om 'n nuwe geskikte veselbron te dentifiseer en wat aandie behoeftes van 'n versterkingsvesel sal voldoen.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:57:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LeonardoPSR.pdf: 5835314 bytes, checksum: 12deb1964ac794f5dcc1b8fb3ba5e4c9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-12-26 / The advantages of the use of vegetable fibers on the synthetic fibers, such as glass fibers, in the reinforcements in composites are: low cost, low density, good tenacity, good thermal properties and reduced use of instruments for their treatment or processing. However, problems related to poor performance of some mechanical natural fibers, have hindered its direct use in structural elements. In this sense, the emergence of alternative materials such as hybrids composites, involving natural and synthetic fibers, has been encouraged by seeking to improve the performance of structural composites based only on natural fibers. The differences between the physical, chemical and mechanical properties of these fibers, especially facing the adverse environmental conditions such as the presence of moisture and ultraviolet radiation, is also becoming a concern in the final response of these composites. This piece of research presents a comparative study of the strength and stiffness between two composite, both of ortoftalic polyester matrix, one reinforced with fibers of glass-E (CV) and other hybrid reinforced with natural fibers of curau? and fiberglass-E (CH). All the comparative study is based on the influence of exposure to UV rays and steam heated water in composites, simulating the aging environment. The conditions for the tests are accelerated through the use of the aging chamber. The composites will be evaluated through tests of uniaxial static mechanical traction and bending on three points. The composite of glass fiber and hybrid manufacturing industry are using the rolling manual (hand lay-up) and have been developed in the form of composites. All were designed to meet possible structural applications such as tanks and pipes. The reinforcements used in composites were in the forms of short fiber glass-E quilts (450g/m2 - 5cm) of continuous wires and fuses (whose title was of 0.9 dtex) for the curau? fibers. The results clearly show the influence of aging on the environmental mechanical performance of the composite CV and CH. The issues concerning the final characteristics of the fracture for all types of cargoes studied were also analyzed / As vantagens do uso de fibras vegetais sobre as fibras sint?ticas, como as fibras de vidro, no refor?o de comp?sitos s?o: baixo custo, baixa densidade, boa tenacidade, boas propriedades t?rmicas e uso reduzido de instrumentos para o seu tratamento ou processamento. Por?m, problemas relacionados com o baixo desempenho mec?nico de algumas fibras vegetais, t?m dificultado seu uso direto em elementos estruturais. Neste sentido, o aparecimento de materiais alternativos, como os comp?sitos h?bridos, envolvendo fibras sint?ticas e naturais, vem sendo incentivado buscando-se melhorar o desempenho estrutural dos comp?sitos a base s? de fibras vegetais. As diferen?as entre as propriedades f?sicas, qu?micas e mec?nicas dessas fibras, principalmente frente ?s condi??es ambientais adversas, como a presen?a de umidade e radia??o ultravioleta, vem se tornando uma preocupa??o a mais na resposta final desses comp?sitos. No presente trabalho de investiga??o apresenta-se um estudo comparativo da resist?ncia e rigidez entre dois comp?sitos, ambos de matriz poli?ster ortoft?lica, sendo um refor?ado com fibras de vidro-E (CV) e o outro h?brido refor?ado com fibras vegetais de curau? e fibra de vidro-E (CH). Todo o estudo comparativo teve como base a influ?ncia da exposi??o ? raios UV e vapor d ?gua aquecido nos comp?sitos, simulando o envelhecimento ambiental. As condi??es de ensaios s?o aceleradas atrav?s do uso da c?mara de envelhecimento. Os comp?sitos ser?o avaliados atrav?s de ensaios mec?nicos est?ticos de tra??o uniaxial e flex?o em tr?s pontos. Os comp?sitos de fibra de vidro e h?bridos s?o de fabrica??o industrial utilizando o processo de lamina??o manual (hand lay-up) e foram desenvolvidos na forma de comp?sitos. Todos foram projetados para atender poss?veis aplica??es estruturais, como reservat?rios e tubula??es. Os refor?os utilizados nos comp?sitos foram na formas de mantas de fibras vidro-E curtas (450g/m2 5cm) e mechas de fios cont?nuos (cujo t?tulo foi de 0,9 dtex) para as fibras de curau?. Os resultados obtidos mostram claramente a influ?ncia do envelhecimento ambiental no desempenho mec?nico dos comp?sitos CV e CH. Tamb?m foram analisados aspectos referentes ?s caracter?sticas finais da fratura para todos os tipos de carregamentos estudados

M. Tech. (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology), Vaal University of Technology. / Sisal is a vegetable fibre extracted from the leaves of Agave Sisalana. The fibre is long, bold and creamy white in colour besides being exceptionally strong. It can be used for making agricultural and parcelling twines of various kinds as well as ropes, sacks, carpet and upholstery. The primary purpose of this research was to study and evaluate the use of sisal as a reinforcing fibre in both treated and untreated forms with epoxy resin matrices. The casting process employed during the composite production was the the vacuum infusion. The effects of both the treated sisal fibre-epoxy resin composites and the untreated sisal fibre-epoxy resin composites on the tensile strength and stiffness, flexural strength and stiffness, impact toughness, shear strength, compression strength and hardness were evaluated. Finally, the occurrence of transverse matrix fracture and fibre pull-out were also studied. It was found that the quasi-static mechanical properties of both the treated sisal fibre-epoxy resin composites and the untreated sisal fibre-epoxy resin composites improved with increases in reinforcement weight fractions. Further, fibre surface treatment on the sisal fibres and the attendant increase in the interfacial bond also resulted into improved quasi-static mechanical properties of the treated sisal fibre-epoxy resin composites when compared to untreated sisal fibre-epoxy resin composites.