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The effect of water hyacinth fiber produced through a treatment process such as boiling and natural alkali on the volume fraction of fiber in the hand lay-up manufactured WHBR FRP composite has been investigated. Based on the investigations, the content of water hyacinth fiber and tensile properties are linearly related. The higher the fraction of fiber volume in WHBR FRP is, the tensile strength of the composite will increase. However, WHBR with water hyacinth fiber content that exceeds the maximum limit causes a tendency in the form of inter-rope voids. Therefore, by using existing equations and models, a value is obtained to approximate the fraction of the maximum water hyacinth fiber volume of 39.38%. The lowest fraction of fiber volume in WHBR FRP will cause matrix control failure and tensile strength to be lower than the tensile strength of the matrix. Therefore, the minimum and critical water hyacinth fiber volume fractions for each treatment of boiling and natural alkali are found to be 13.6% & 15.5%, and 14.0 & 15.5% respectively. Based on the value of critical and maximum fiber volume fraction, it is determined that the allowed volume fraction of water hyacinth fiber used for WHBR FRP composite is around 18-39%, generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The choice of ASTM D638 versus ASTM D3039 test specimen shape is usually based on the perceived susceptibility of ASTM D638 test specimens to failure within the fillet radius. For test results to be accepted, specimens should fall inside the narrow length (i.e., ASTM D638) or outside of the grips (i.e., ASTM D3039), according to ASTM polymer and plastic tensile test standards. The choice of ASTM test specimen shape has received little published research, particularly for plastic FRP materials. Through a comparison of the mechanical performance and failure acceptance rates of test specimen geometries manufactured using plastic straw waste FRP, ASTM D3039, and ASTM D638 test specimens, this study offers evidence-based guidance to offer recommendations for using current ASTM polymer testing standards for plastic FRP. According to the results, using ASTM D3039 instead of specimens from ASTM D638 has inherent advantages. Due to the rectangular shape of the test specimen, ASTM D3039 test specimens consistently fall within the gauge length of the test specimen. According to the results, there will be variations in the tensile test results depending on the different cross-sectional areas of the test specimen geometries, just like with traditionally manufactured polymer composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]