Influence of betel nut fiber hybridization on properties of novel aloevera fiber-reinforced vinyl ester composites

Abstract

Abstract This work presents the influence of betel nut fiber hybridization on the properties (mechanical, thermal, wear, and water absorption) of novel aloevera fiber-reinforced vinyl ester composites. In this research, we fabricated the composites by changing the wt.% of aloevera fiber and betel nut fiber through the hand layup method using the compression molding technique. From the results, it has been observed that increases in wt.% of betel nut fiber increased the mechanical properties, thermal properties, wear resistance, and water resistance of the composites. The composite with the designation S1 shows the lowest hardness, tensile, flexural, impact, and shear strengths of 49.58, 26.59 MPa, 52.53 MPa, 4.12 J, and 101.26 MPa, respectively. Meanwhile, the composite with the designation S5 shows the highest hardness, tensile, flexural, impact, and shear strengths of 71.29, 62.61 MPa, 78.24 MPa, 9.57 J, and 139.52 MPa, respectively. Further, higher wear resistance and water resistance were obtained by the S5 specimen. SEM analysis shows the good strength of betel nut fiber and enhances the tensile strength of the composites.