Investigation of mechanical and thermal behavior of sisal fibre reinforced polymer biocomposites

Abstract

In this study, biocomposites were developed with reinforced natural sisal (Agave sisalana) fibres by hand lay-up method. Sisal fibre loading was kept constant (30 wt%) with varying fibre lengths (5, 10, 15 and 20 mm) incorporated in epoxy composites to study their effects on mechanical and thermal properties. Mechanical testing (Tensile, Flexural and Impact) and thermal testing (Thermo-gravimetric analysis) were performed to identify mechanical properties and thermal stability. The specimens for tensile, flexural and impact test were taken as 165 mm × 20 mm × 3 mm, 80 mm × 13 mm × 3 mm and 65 mm × 13 mm × 3 mm respectively. A remarkable improvement in tensile, flexural and impact strength were noticed in composites incorporated with sisal fibres of 15 mm. The significant enhancement in tensile, flexural and impact strength was evaluated by 20.15%, 39.95% and 47.27% respectively as compared to neat epoxy composite. Higher thermal stability was also observed in 15 mm sisal fibre-reinforced composite.