Investigating interphase bond behavior of waste badminton string fiber in composite matrix

ABSTRACT

Recently moving towards the usage of sustainable and renewable construction materials, the badminton strings are identified as alternate material for commercial fibers. These recycled badminton strings once discarded from the racquets become a waste and cannot be reused. Hence investigation of the interphase bond behavior of these fibers with the cement and epoxy polymer matrix plays a major role. Therefore, the pullout mechanism between the fibers with the epoxy matrix is examined using the photoelasticity technique with a 40 mm embedment length. Whereas the pullout mechanism between the fibers with the cementitious matrix is examined for a single string of fiber using a pullout test with varied embedment lengths of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 mm. From the study, the minimum and maximum bond stress between the fiber and epoxy interface is 3.23 MPa and 11.59 MPa respectively. Whereas between the fiber and cementitious interface, the minimum and maximum bond stress is 1.02 MPa and 2.15 MPa respectively. The experimental results are validated by the Weibull modulus approach which shows less variability. Thus, the results of the pullout test in composite matrix recommend the usage of waste badminton strings in fiber-reinforced concrete applications.

Graphical abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Waste badminton string fiber
• pullout behavior
• Weibull modulus
• photoelasticity
• stress transfer

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the XRD FACILITY at SRMIST setup with support from MNRE (Project No. 31/03/2014-15/PVSE-R&D), Government of India. We acknowledge SRMIST for the high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM) facility and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Conceptualization and methodology, writing – original draft preparation, Kumaresan M; Validation, editing and supervision, Sindhu Nachiar; Data curation and supervision, Anandh S.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no external funding.