Browsing by Author "Thilanga, G.P.D.L.S."

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    Evaluation of Suitability of Palmyra Fibre as a Replacement for Coconut Fibre in Carbon Black Filled Natural Rubber Composites
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2013) Thilanga, G.P.D.L.S.; Herath, H.M.S.K.; Edirisinghe, D.G.; Sampath, W.D.M.
    Natural rubber (NR) consists of cis 1,4 polyisoprene. It is an example of elastomeric type polymer, where the polymer has the ability to return to its original shape after being stretched or deformed. Fillers are materials that are particulate in nature, which are added to rubber mixes to modify the physical and, to a very smaller extent, the chemical properties, also to improve the processing characteristics and reduce cost (Briggs et al., 2000). Natural fibres are generally lignocellulose in nature, consisting of helically wound cellulose microfibrils in a matrix of lignin and hemicellulose. Palmyra fibre is an inexpensive fibre among the various natural fibres available in the world. It is abundantly available in Sri Lanka, India, like tropical countries and it’s density is least among all known fibres including coconut fibre. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to replace coconut fibre with palmyra fibre in carbon black filled natural rubber composites Methodology The current study was carried out at the Rubber Technology and Development Department, Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka (RRISL), Telawala Road, Rathmalana. Compound preparation and laboratory analysis were done at RRISL laboratory. The effect of different amounts of palmyra fibre on physico-mechanical properties of natural rubber compounds was investigated and the properties were compared with those of coconut fibre filled natural rubber compounds. Test pieces were prepared with the rubber compounds to carry out physico- mechanical testing. The cure characteristics and physico-mechanical properties of the rubber composites prepared with different loadings of palmyra fibre were investigated. For comparison purposes, a series of rubber compounds was prepared using coconut fibre, similar to the quantity of palmyra fibre. Two factor factorial Complete Randomized Design (factorial CRD) was conducted and data obtained from cure characteristics and physico-mechanical properties tests were analysed with analysis of variance (ANOVA) with General Linear Model (GLM) procedure of Minitab 16. Significant means of treatments were separated using the Least Significant Difference (LSD) (P< 0.05) test.
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    Evaluation of Suitability of Palmyra Fibre as a Replacement for Coconut Fibre in Carbon Black Filled Natural Rubber Composites
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2013) Thilanga, G.P.D.L.S.
    The main objective of this study was to replace coconut fibre with palmyra fibre in carbon black filled natural rubber composites. The effect of different amounts of palmyra fibre on physico-mechanical properties of natural rubber compounds was investigated and the properties were compared with those of coconut fibre filled natural rubber compounds. Test pieces were prepared with the rubber compounds to carry out physico¬mechanical testing. The cure characteristics and physico-mechanical properties of the rubber composites prepared with different loadings of palmyra fibre were investigated. For comparison purposes, a series of rubber compounds was prepared using coconut fibre, similar in quantity to palmyra fibre. Palmyra fibre containing composites exhibited lower minimum torque, higher maximum torque, higher scorch time and shorter cure time. Further, incorporation of palmyra fibre into rubber compounds significantly improved hardness, tensile modulus, elongation at break and tear strength, but significantly decreased tensile strength and abrasion resistance. In overall, results indicated that palmyra fibre containing, carbon black filled natural rubber composites exhibit improved cure and physico-mechanical properties in comparison to coconut fibre containing carbon black filled natural rubber composites. There was a significant difference (P<0.05) between palmyra fibre filled and coconut fibre filled rubber composites. Palmyra fibre composite is suitable as a direct replacement for coconut fibre composite in most applications because of the pattern of reinforcement produced. Further, palmyra fibre composite fulfils the requirements of a middle layer solid tyre compound. Key words: Palmyra fibre, cure characteristics, physico-mechanical properties, reinforcing filler, carbon black