Granite Powder Influence on the Static Mechanical Properties of Tapsi fiber-reinforced Hybrid Composites: A Comparative Study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Strength, weight, stiffness, environmental friendliness, and ease of manufacture are the key considerations for the selection of materials for today’s engineering applications. In this study, the hybrid composite was developed by reinforcing the alkali-treated tapsi fiber and micro granite filler into a polyester matrix using the hand lay-up method. Tapsi fiber is inexpensive, available in abundance, and the necessary amount of fiber needs to be prepared with minimal effort. Micro granite powder is one of the unused industrial wastes produced by the granite industry. Five different hybrid composite samples were created by keeping the tapsi fiber content constant at 20 wt.% and altering the micro granite powder content in polyester resin from 0 wt.% to 20 wt.%. Mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural, and impact strengths were evaluated to assess the hybrid composite’s load-bearing capabilities. Other characterizations such as FTIR and SEM are conducted to verify the applicability of hybrid composites in temperature, chemical, and humid environments. In addition, the tracing of chemical bonds for hybrid composites can be done using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The load-bearing capacity and transferability of the hybrid composite were solely based on the bonding of the fiber reinforcement, the filler, and polymer resin.