Fibre geometry and its contribution to the global unidirectional tensile properties of enset fibre-reinforced epoxy composites

This study investigated the potential forms of enset fibres and their tensile properties. Microscopic images of the fibre cross-section were collected, and image analysis was carried out in MATLAB. As a result, four distinct fibre shapes were identified and their likelihood of occurring as well as- their area contribution to the fibre bundle were determined. These fibres have distinct tensile strength, Young's modulus, and strain-to-failure values, distinguishing the strongest and weakest fibres. The strength distribution of these fibre shapes does not conform to the Weibull theory. However, it follows the scenario that fibres with the biggest perimeter-to-area ratio provide the weakest values and vice versa. This shows that the tensile properties of fibres are influenced not only by their material properties but also by their geometric shape. As a result, fibres of different shapes contribute differently to the global tensile properties of the fibre-polymer composites.