Bagasse-Fiber-Reinforced Composites

Abstract

This paper describes the evaluation of five water soluble phenolic resins as binders, at 5 percent concentration, for oriented and random bagasse-reinforced composite materials. De termined was the amount of resin retained during processing when these phenolics are precipitated from a water slurry onto the bagasse fibers. The physical properties of random and orien ted cured composites (wet and dry) were determined. Random fiber composites were also prepared by a "moist" process (in which no resin is lost) and compared. A specific resin was se lected as best based on retained mechanical properties and mini mal phenolic processing losses.