Mechanical and Water Transport Characterization of Indian Almond – Banana Fibers Reinforced Hybrid Composites for Structural Applications

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this investigation, hybrid composites were prepared for structural applications using Indian almond and Banana fibers by hand layup method. Five types of composites were fabricated viz. I-I-I-I, I-B-B-I, I-B-I-B, B-I-I-B & B-B-B-B and the mechanical & moisture absorption characteristics were studied. The tensile and flexural studies showed that the I-I-I-I composite displayed the maximum tensile and flexural strength of 61 MPa and 53 MPa, respectively, due to the placing of high strength Indian almond fiber at outer skin. The impact study resulted that the B-B-B-B composite exhibited the maximum impact strength (6.2 kJ/m2) owing to the presence of more void content (6.83%) that absorbed more impact energy. The moisture absorption study reported that the B-B-B-B composite absorbed the maximum moisture percentage of 21% at 11 days due to more void content whereas the I-I-I-I composite showed least moisture absorption of 15% at 11 days because of low void percentage. Further, the biodegradation study revealed that the B-B-B-B composite exhibited the maximum weight loss of 38% at 60 days due to more moisture absorption that weakened the bonding strength of matrix and fiber and the microorganism accelerated the degradation.