Mechanical properties and moisture behaviour of neem/banyan fibres reinforced with polymer matrix hybrid composite

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this research work, chopped neem fibre and woven banyan fibre were stacked into seven different sequences and fabricated by the hand lay-up technique. The laminates consist of 70% epoxy matrix, 25% natural fibre reinforcements and 5% sawdust filler material. The mechanical properties of the composite such as tensile strength, flexural strength, compression strength and impact strength were studied and also identify the water absorption capacity under different weight fractions of fibres. It is more effective by increasing the weight fraction of bi-directional woven banyan fibres which give better tensile strength of 25.55 MPa, flexural strength of 21.23 MPa, compression strength of 25.21 MPa and increasing of chopped neem fibre gave higher impact strength of 18 J in sample G was found in natural composite. Also, in sample G was given less moisture absorption capacity of 0.1% compared with other sample of hybrid composite. Therefore, the sample G sequence can replace to polycarbonate synthetic helmet and it is a potential alternate material for making natural composite helmet. The surface morphology was studied by SEM analysis before and after fracture of the hybrid composite to reveal the surface finish and failure mode of the epoxy composite laminates.