Engineering Sustainable Construction Material: Hemp-Fiber-Reinforced Composite with Recycled High-Density Polyethylene Matrix

Abstract

This paper presents findings from an ongoing research study aimed at increasing the available sustainable construction materials that could possibly be used in the design and construction of civil infrastructure and commercial building projects in the future. At the Sustainable Material and Renewable Technology Laboratory at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, a recent study was conducted to investigate the material properties of natural fiber composites (NFCs) developed from industrial hemp fiber. The NFCs were synthesized with recycled thermoplastic polymers using extrusion and compression molding techniques. The effects of fiber/matrix volume fraction on composite’s tensile, flexural strength, and modulus were investigated. The surface morphology of natural fiber both before and after treatment was examined by using scanning electron microscopy. The results of the study indicate that hemp fiber composites with recycled high-density polyethylene (rHDPE) have many desirable mechanical properties with regard to tensile strength, elastic modulus, flexural strength, and modulus of rupture at 40% of fiber volume fraction. It was observed that the tensile strength of hemp fiber with rHDPE composite reached 60.2 MPa at the 40% of fiber volume fraction, which outperforms hemp composites with virgin thermoplastic matrix reported in previous studies.