Mechanical performance of paper pulp and wood glue composite

Due to depleting natural resources, it is necessary to develop eco-composite materials that are fabricated from sustainable and inexpensive materials such as recycled paper or cellulose-based materials. Such materials are required to meet the mechanical performance at par with traditional materials. The main aim of this study was to investigate the mechanical performance of a composite material fabricated from paper pulp and polyvinyl acetate (wood glue). It is expected that a high strength composite material may be achieved by varying the amount of paper-pulp fiber fraction from 7.5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% to 60% weight. A tensile test was conducted and it was found that an increase in fiber content on the fabricated composite resulted in an increase in ultimate tensile strength and a decrease in corresponding strain. Furthermore, the material becomes more brittle at higher fiber content and conversely, more ductile at lower fiber content. The ultimate tensile strength was found to be 7.69 MPa at 60% w.t fiber and the minimum tensile strength was 0.12 MPa at 0% w.t fiber. There were no signs of fiber content limit observed in the obtained results. It was concluded that a composite of moderate strength was produced and future work is required in order to fully understand how the composite behaves at different loading conditions. However, an optimum fiber content limit will have to be determined.