Abstract
Natural fiber reinforced composites are carbon neutral materials and expected to be the alternative of GFRP. In this study, the effects of matrix properties on fatigue strength of unidirectional jute spun yarn reinforced biodegradable plastics were investigated. PLA and PBS were used for matrix. PLA is brittle, but widely used for matrix of green composites. PBS has much higher ductility than that of PLA and then would be expected to have higher fatigue strength when PBS is subjected to the same strain amplitude as PLA. Fatigue tests were conducted under conditions that the maximum stress was set to 40%–90% of the tensile strength and the stress ratio was set to 0.1. The results revealed, as anticipated, that Jute/PBS composite had higher fatigue strength than Jute/PLA composite.
