EFFECTS OF MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION ANALYSIS IN ARECANUT FIBER REINFORCED COMPOSITE MATERIALS

Abstract

Ecological pollution is the most important thing in the fast-growing world. Many scientists were concentrated to develop environmental pollution-free composite materials and products according to environmentally sustainable principles. So those synthetic fibers were replaced by natural fibers due to less expensive, easy availability, minimal waste removal difficulties, comparable strength, non-toxicity, and ecologically friendly environment. Arecanut fiber is one of the most significant natural fiber which is obtained from an Arecanut tree and available more number in the state Kerala. In the current research, the reinforcement of Arecanut fiber with epoxide composites has been formulated and the mechanical characteristics of those composites are reviewed. In this research, the stir casting method was utilized to prepare the composite specimens with the various fiber weight fractions of 0 to 30% and the pressure was applied at ambient temperature. As per the ASTM standard, the prepared composites were crushed into small pieces for various experiments. The specimens have been exposed to the hardness, density, and mechanical testing like impact, flexural and tensile loading. The highest possible hardness, flexural strength, density, and tensile strength are attained for the material fabricated with the 20 wt% reinforced Arecanut epoxide composites. The fiber matrix was evaluated, and the structure of the fractured surfaces was examined through performing SEM ie Scanning electron microscope analysis.