Comparison of the Tensile Strength of Single Natural Fibers

There is a great interest in replacing synthetics with natural materials to minimize global climate change and environmental pollution. This study presents a simple yet effective method to extract natural fibers such as banana, sisal, and false banana plant fibers and their mechanical properties. An effective mechanical and chemical fiber treatment to improve the mechanical behavior of the fibers is presented. The quality of the fibers and the cross-sectional area of each fiber were examined using FTIR and a Zeta 20 optical 3D microscope. Compared with the untreated fibers, the proposed treatment improved the banana, sisal, and false banana fibers by 34.78%, 22.68%, and 3.08%, respectively. The ultimate tensile strength of the treated false banana fibers was higher than those of sisal and banana fibers by 13.05% and 14.08%, respectively, and the failure strain was higher by 40% and 16.66%, respectively. On the other hand, the linear density and tenacity of false banana were slightly lower than sisal fiber but marginally higher than banana fiber.