Natural Fiber Textile Composite Engineering

Natural Fiber Textile Composite Engineering sheds light on the area of the natural fiber textile composites with new research on their applications, the material used, the methods of preparation, the different types of polymers, the selection of raw materials, the elements of design the natural fiber textile polymer composites for a particular end use, their manufacturing techniques, and finally their life cycle assessments (LCA). The volume also addresses the important issue in the materials science of how to utilize natural fibers as an enhancement to composite materials. Natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites have been proven to provide a combination of superior mechanical property, dielectric property, and environmental advantages such as renewability and biodegradability. Natural fibers, some from agricultural waste products, can replace existing metallic and plastic parts and help to alleviate the environmental problem of increasing amounts of agriculture residual.

The book is divided into four sections, covering:

• applications of natural fiber polymer composites
• design of natural fiber polymer composites
• composite manufacturing techniques and agriculture waste manufacturing
• composite material testing methods

The first section of the book deals with the application of textile composites in the industry and the properties of the natural fibers, providing an understanding of the history of natural fiber composites as well as an analysis of the different properties of different natural fibers. The second section goes on to explain the textile composites, their classification, different composite manufacturing techniques, and the different pretreatment methods for the natural fibers to be used in composite formation. It also analyzes the composite material design under different types of loading and the mechanism of failure of the natural fiber composite. The effect of the fiber volume fraction of different textile structures is explained.

The third section of the book, on composite manufacturing techniques and agriculture waste manufacturing, concerns the natural fiber composite manufacturing techniques, agricultural waste, and the methods of their preparation to be used successfully in the composite, either in the form of fibers particles or nanoparticles. The book then considers the testing methods of the different composite components as well as the final composite materials, giving the principle of the testing standards, either distractive or nondestructive.

This book attempts to fill the gap between the role of the textile engineer and the role of the designer of composites from natural fibers. It provides important information on the application of textile composites for textile engineers, materials engineers, and researchers in the area of composite materials.

Magdi El Messiry, PhD, is currently Professor of Textile Composite Material Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering at Alexandria University, Egypt. He held the position of Vice Dean for Community Services and Environmental Affairs at Alexandria University from 1994 to 1998 and was the Head of the Textile Department (2000–2002 and 2005-2011). For his experience in the textile field, he was appointed as a member of the Directing Board of Spinning and Weaving Holding Company, the main Textile Company in Egypt, and is also a technical adviser to the Owner Board.

His list of publications exceeds 150 papers in the different fields of textile and materials science. He has participated in the establishment of a several textile departments in Egypt and in Arab countries and has carried out several granted projects at the international level with the colleagues from UK, France, Spain, USA, Czech Republic, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. He also participates in scientific boards of several journals. In the last five years he has acted as an international expert in innovation and technology transfer. In 1999, Dr. El Messiry received the Alexandria University Award for Scientific Achievements and in 2008 the AU Achievement Award. He is the author of several books in the field of braiding, textile technology, and industrial innovation. He was a visiting professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nonwovens Research Lab at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA. Dr. El Messiry has supervised more than 40 theses for master and doctor degrees.

Dr. El Messiry was awarded a scholarship by the Egyptian government to one of the famous textile institutes in Russia (Moscow Textile University), where he obtained a PhD degree in the Design of Textile Machinery.