Material characterisation for natural fibres: compressibility, permeability and friction

Abstract Although fibrous suspensions are finding increasing use in many applications, holistic studies investigating their material properties are essentially non-existent due to a lack of simple and reliable measurement techniques. To address this, geotechnical techniques have been considered for the characterisation of an extruded suspension of poplar fibres. Use of such characterization techniques was thought suitable since the extruded fibres share many physical similarities with fibrous peats, and since both materials are primarily derived from plants. In the present study, oedometer and direct shear tests were employed to evaluate the compressibility, permeability and friction properties of poplar fibres. Triplicates of each test were carried out for two differently prepared poplar fibres at several different initial water contents. All measurements were found to be in good agreement with the values typical of fibrous peats, justifying direct cross-over of geotechnical techniques as an alternative method for characterising and modelling fibrous suspensions in manufacturing applications.