Strengthening and stiffening of ramie single fibers

摘要

The purpose of this study is to improve the strength and stiffness of natural fibers through mechanical treatments. Cyclic or constant loading was applied for ramie single fibers. Tensile strength of as-supplied ramie fibers was improved, similarly to the previous paper, but the fibers indicated less strength and stiffness if the fibers are tensile-tested two weeks after the treatment. The constant-loading treated fibers showed also higher strength and stiffuess, as compared with the as-supplied fibers. However, the degree of the strength increase is not so large, as compared with cyclic-loading treated fibers. It was concluded that such improvements were related with a decrease in the microfibrillar angle in the fiber and some change in the amorphous structure of the microfibril celluloses.