| Abstract | An improved Single Fiber Tensile Test (SFTT) for natural fibers was depicted. Natural fibers have irregular shape. They are not uniform along the fiber length, and also from one fiber to another. Applying the conventional SFTT method, which determine the fiber cross-section by measuring the fiber diameter using optical microscopy, result in inaccurate properties of natural fibers with large standard deviation (SD). In the proposed new SFTT method, an accurate cross-section area could be obtained from the Scanning Electron Microscope observation of a flat and clear fractured end surface of carefully selected tensile tested fibers and imaging analysis. Applying this new approach, tensile strength of different types of flax fiber, including bast fiber, enzyme retted and water retted fiber provided SD of less than 11%, while those of these fibers determined by the conventional approach had SD of over 24%. |
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