Tensile and Flexural Behaviour of Sugar Cane Bagasse Waste Reinforced EVA Matrix Composites

Abstract

Themechanical behaviour of chopped bagasse-EVA matrix composites is evaluated andcompared with the behaviour of more common thermoplastic matrix composites andwood based materials. The results show that for bagasse particle sizes rangingfrom less than 3 mm to 30 mm the tensile and flexural properties areindependent of the bagasse size. The incorporation of chopped bagasse producesa strong increase in the stiffness of the EVA matrix and it is shown that thedeformability of the composites can be tailored by varying the volume fractionof bagasse, without a big decrease in mechanical strength. The results alsoshow that EVA composites could compete with low density wood based materials.