STUDIES ON MECHANICAL PERFORMANCE OF CYNARA SCOLYMUS/ POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE NONWOVEN COMPOSITES

Öz

Global warming, energy consumption and the desire to obtain products from renewable sources have led to a resurgence of interest in plant-derived products. Plant fibers with some interesting inherent properties like cost, effectiveness, renewable, available in high quality, have low fossil-fuel energy requirements, and can offer good mechanical properties has attracted it use for composite materials. Hemp, jute, flax, bagasse, coconut fiber, and bamboo are among the natural fibers which has attracted attention because of their low cost compared to synthetic fibers such as glass, carbon etc . Natural fiber reinforced composites are finding successful application in the automotive, electronics, and engineering sectors.

In this study, Artichoke (Cynara scolymus) fibers  are obtained from the West Mediterranean Region of Turkey. Firstly the stem of plant was removed than the fibers were gained. Nonwoven surfaces were obtained at different percentages by to the mix Cynara scolymus / polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers.

The mechanical properties (elongation (%),tensile strength (N), modulus of elasticity (MPa)) of composite materials were investigated. The mechanical properties of non-woven surface composites of Cynara scolymus / PET fibers were observed with increases in elongation value, strength value and elasticity modulus values compared to a 100% PET based nonwoven surface. In addition, the contact angle values of nonwoven surface composites based on Cynara scolymus/PET fibers were  decreased.