Experimental investigations on flexural and compressive properties of epoxy resin matrix sugarcane fiber and tamarind seed powder reinforced bio-composites

Abstract

Hybrid bio-composites have been developed in recent years by incorporating various natural resources as reinforcement and filler components to achieve the desired qualities. Experiments were conducted in this study to investigate the impact of short sugarcane fibres and tamarind seed powder particles on epoxy resin matrix flexural and compressive characteristics. Reinforcement elements include sugarcane fibres and tamarind seed powder particles. Samples of hybrid bio-composite material were created by altering the proportion of reinforcing components and maintaining the same proportion of the epoxy resin. A hot injection moulding machine was used to create hybrid bio-composite boards. With the use of a water jet machining technique, hybrid bio-composite specimens for flexural and compression testing are cut away from the hybrid bio-composite boards. The maximum flexural strength, flexural modulus and compressive strength of 36.543 MPa, 12.129 GPa and 21.32 MPa was obtained for 35 wt% SCF/15 wt% TSP composites correspondingly. The minimum flexural strength, flexural modulus and compressive strength of 25.058 MPa, 5.828 GPa and 14.21 MPa was obtained for 40 wt% SCF and 10 wt% TSP composites correspondingly. For the hybrid bio-composites, restricted insertion of short sugarcane fibre and tamarind seed powder particles into epoxy resin matrix greatly improves certain flexural and compressive performances.