Investigation on Microstructure, Tensile Properties and Fatigue Characterization of Porous Date Palm Fiber

Date palm fibers have been studied as potential reinforcement in composite materials. Their density is equal to 1.22 g.cm−3; making them suitable for use in lightweight applications. In order to efficiently use these fibers and understand their mechanical properties, quasi-static tensile tests and cyclic fiber fatigue tests were performed to determine the mechanical properties. Their internal structure, elementary fibers and porosity were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the mechanical properties are clearly improved by taking into account the porosity by calculating the real section of the fibers by using the imageJ software a cross-sectional pore fraction of the fibers has been determined and the ultimate properties of the pore-free bulky fibers has been calculated with stress and Young’s modulus increased by approx. 54% as compared to the highly porous natural fibers.