Moisture absorption studies on Kenaf composites at various temperatures

Abstract

In the world of manufacturing and production industries, composites are emerging to be the best of all the other available sources. Their lightweight, high strength, ease of manufacture and usage makes them superior to other materials. Nowadays, the applications of composites is almost everywhere. From household applications to automotive and aviation industries they are used. The composition of most composites mainly consist of glass, carbon fibers with epoxy resin, all these materials provide good mechanical properties to the composite but at the same time, they are very hard to dispose of as they are non -biodegradable. As these composites are not eco - friendly we can replace these synthetic fibers with natural fibers. Comparing different natural plant fibers, kenaf fibers show immense use in the automotive industry. Kenaf fibers are obtained from the plant kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) which is commonly called as Deccan hemp. In this paper, the kenaf fibers are studied for their flexural properties, moisture-absorbing capacity, and diffusion coefficient at different environmental and physical conditions. The weight of the fiber in the composite is varied for different percentages such as 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50. The experiments are conducted at two different temperature conditions, at 30 °C and 50 °C and the results are noted down separately. The flexural properties are tested under three conditions, at 30°C, 50°C and at the dry condition. Experimental results show that the flexural properties are optimum for 20% weight of fiber at the dry condition. The water-absorbing properties were found to be low for lower weight ratios at 30°C. The fiber exhibited good diffusion properties at 50°C for almost all weight ratio.