Mechanical and Fracture Behaviour of the Maguey Manso (Agave salmiana) Cuticle: An Engineering Approach
Carlos A. Mora Santos
*
Tecnológico Nacional de México, Instituto Tecnológico de Apizaco. Av. Instituto Tecnológico No. 418, San Andrés Ahuashuatepec, Municipio de Tzompantepec, Tlaxcala, Méx. C.P. 90491, Mexico.
J. Bedolla Hernández
Tecnológico Nacional de México, Instituto Tecnológico de Apizaco. Av. Instituto Tecnológico No. 418, San Andrés Ahuashuatepec, Municipio de Tzompantepec, Tlaxcala, Méx. C.P. 90491, Mexico.
V. Flores Lara
Tecnológico Nacional de México, Instituto Tecnológico de Apizaco. Av. Instituto Tecnológico No. 418, San Andrés Ahuashuatepec, Municipio de Tzompantepec, Tlaxcala, Méx. C.P. 90491, Mexico.
Evelio Ortega Alvarado
Tecnológico Nacional de México, Instituto Tecnológico de Apizaco. Av. Instituto Tecnológico No. 418, San Andrés Ahuashuatepec, Municipio de Tzompantepec, Tlaxcala, Méx. C.P. 90491, Mexico.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
In this work, the tensile behaviour of an isolated maguey manso cuticle is studied from an engineering perspective. The maguey manso is a plant in the Agavaceae family that grows in the semi-dry and cold Central Valley of Mexico, among the States of Mexico, Hidalgo, Puebla and Tlaxcala. The leaves of a maguey, known as pencas, are formed basically by sap, fibers along their full length, and the cuticle. It was found that the maguey cuticle behaves as a viscoelastic material. Once the tensile stress is reached, the cuticle breaks catastrophically in a brittle way. Scanning electron microscopy reveals that the complex and homogeneous microstructural arrangement of stomata in the cuticle contributes to anisotropic and brittle crack propagation behaviour, due to preferential stomatal alignment.
Keywords: Strength properties, salmiana cuticle, maguey manzo