Mechanical properties and morphological study on palm Fiber/S-Glass reinforced polymer matrix composites

Abstract

This investigation examine the polymer matrix composite material prepared from 32 wt% epoxy resin LY556 and 3 wt% hardener HY951 with Palm fiber (30 wt%, 20 wt%, 10 wt%) and S-glass. Composite materials are made by reinforcing at least two materials of different properties. Hybrid Composite materials are framed by combining natural and synthetic fibers. In this study based on the physical, synthetic and mechanical properties of the chosen materials the necessary epoxy resin LY556 and hardener HY951 are picked and fabricated accordingly by using hand lay-up method. The test specimens are cut as per the ASTM standards using waterjet cutting. Different tests were conducted to assess the Mechanical properties like tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength and hardness of the hybrid composite material. The morphological study used to identify the structure of the composite material is done by using scanning electron microscope. The elemental analysis also examined using SEM-EDX. The test results show that the specimen 1 (30 wt% palm fiber) which have the better strength, firmness, high strength to weight ratio and other mechanical properties compared to other specimens 2 (20 wt% palm fiber) and 3 (10 wt% palm fiber). The morphological properties show that the composite materials have good bonding properties. The SEM-EDX analysis show that the composite material has 49.64% carbon which is a high strength element used for structural applications.