Effect of process parameters on tensile properties of tamarind particles/MWCNT hybrid polymer nanocomposites

Abstract

Fiber-reinforced polymer composites have played a dominant role for a long-time in variety of applications for their high specific strength and modulus. The fiber which serves as a reinforcement in reinforced plastics may be synthetic or natural. Past studies show that only synthetic fibers such glass, carbons etc. have been used in fiber-reinforced plastics. Although glass and other synthetic fiber-reinforced plastics possess high specific strength, their fields of application are very limited because of their inherent higher cost of production. In this connection, an investigation has been carried out to make use of tamarind particles, a natural fiber abundantly available in India. Natural fibers are not only strong and lightweight but also relatively very cheap. The present work discusses the development and characterization of a new set of natural fiber based polymer composites consisting of tamarind particle & MWCNT as reinforcement and epoxy resin as matrix. The epoxy-tamarind seed particles composites (ETC) specimen were prepared by varying the particle size, weight percentage of tamarind seed, MWCNT and epoxy resin. The newly developed composites are characterized for tensile and physical characteristics. The experiments have been performed to study the effects of particle size (microns), filler weight (%), MWCNT (%), on tensile and physical behaviour of these epoxy based polymer composites. Design of experiments (DOE) is used to conduct the experiments. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is carried out to check the adequacy of the developed models. The main effect and interaction effects on properties are shown in graphical form. These results indicate that tamarind particle and MWCNT can be used as a potential reinforcing material for many structural and non-structural applications.