## 2 Materials and Methods
### Materials  
The resin used was formed by a homogeneous, polyester-based, central polymer chain compound dissolved in styrene monomer. It works as the resin diluent but also has a structural function in curing the resin. Another component of the resin is an inhibitor, which allows it to not react spontaneously; it means that the resin does not cure prior to the aggregation of the promoters of the reaction. For the development of this research, pure orthophthal polyester resin (thermostable), produced by Lonza Group Co., under the trade name Distitron 5119, was used and whose characteristics and values are shown in Table 1 and Figure 2, respectively. Figure 1: Outline of the investigation. The catalyst used was Curox M-302 (methyl ethyl ketone peroxide) produced by United Initiators GmbH, in the ratio of 2.0%, whose characteristics and values are shown in Table 2 and Figure 3, respectively. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline
**Properties** & **Typical Values** \\ \hline Physical state and color & liquid and colorless \\ \hline CAS number & 1338-23-4 \\ \hline Formula & C\({}_{4}\)H\({}_{10}\)O\({}_{4}\) \\ \hline Flashpoint & 56\({}^{\circ}\)C, Method: ISO 3679, Seta-Flash. \\ \hline Melting point/range & \(-10\) to \(-5.5\)\({}^{\circ}\)C \\ \hline Vapor pressure & 0.184 Pa at 25 \({}^{\circ}\)C \\ \hline Density & 1.02 g/cm\({}^{3}\) at 20 \({}^{\circ}\)C \\ \hline Water solubility & Approximately 6.5 g/L at 20 \({}^{\circ}\)C \\ \hline Dynamic viscosity & 13 mPa.s at 20 \({}^{\circ}\)C \\ \hline Refractive index & 1.43 at 20 \({}^{\circ}\)C \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Data of the Curox M-302. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline
**Properties** & **Test Methods** & **Typical Values** \\ \hline Color & RS13F & light yellow \\ \hline Odor & - & styrene \\ \hline Acid number & RS02 & 24–31 mg KOH/g \\ \hline Stability at 20 \({}^{\circ}\)C in the dark & RS07G & six months \\ \hline Apparent density & ISO 2811 & 1.1–1.15 g/cm\({}^{3}\) \\ \hline RVF viscosity, s 2 rpm & GM025 & 580–700 mPa.s \\ \hline Styrene monomer content & RS06C & 31–35\% \\ \hline Reactivity & \multicolumn{2}{c}{0.3\%Co6\% + 0.8\%MEKP} \\ \hline Gel time & RS13G & 20–26 min. \\ \hline Hardening time & RS13G & 31–43 min. \\ \hline Exothermic peak & RS13G & 140–170 \({}^{\circ}\)C \\ \hline Flashpoint & EN 22719 & 31 \({}^{\circ}\)C \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Data of the polyester Distitron 5119. Figure 2: Obtaining unsaturated polyester with styrene. This unsaturated polyester was chosen for its properties and its versatility, since it can be used as binding resins to make highly resistant synthetic fibers, transparent films, corrugated sheets, varnishes, and protective paints. On the other hand, this polymer, thanks to its properties and its sintering mode, gave us the possibility of simple processing by manual molding of the compound without the need for heat administration or the presence of a cooling system, as well as a relatively short natural cure time. As the reinforcing component, the Henequen fiber from Cuba (Agave fourcroydes), from Limonar, Matanzas Province, Cuba, was used. The optimum length was determined according to the critical length criterion, as presented by Equation (1). \[l_{c}=\frac{\sigma_{f}d_{f}}{2\tau_{c}} \tag{1}\]  
where \(l_{c}\) is the critical length, \(\sigma_{f}\) is the maximum stress that the fiber resists, \(d_{f}\) is the fiber diameter, and \(\tau_{c}\) is the shear strength of the matrix. The fibers were tested in a TA HD PLUS machine, brand-Stable Micro System with a capacity of up to 250 kgf, with controlled temperature and humidity of 250 \({}^{\circ}\)C and 60 RH. Measurements were taken on a total of 20 fibers, which were each cut in two and tests were carried out on both halves, taking the average of the results for each fiber and an average for the total fibers measured.