Optimization of Mechanical Behaviors of Boiled Egg shell Particulate-banana fiber Reinforced Polyester Composites

Abstract

The natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites are recognized as an alternative to wood and plastics in recent years. The natural plant fibers are extracted from various parts of the tree and are used in polymer composites. Natural fibers have gained popularity over synthetic fibers because of their low cost, lightweight, abundance as natural and renewable resources, and versatile mechanical properties, among others. Natural fibers in numerous applications in many fields such as automotive, textile, fiberboard, cushion, paper, mattress, door, wall panel, air cleaner, dashboard and insulation mat manufacturing, as well as in the construction and transportation industries. This present investigation focuses on boiled eggshell particulated banana fiber-polyester composites. The resin content of 60% is maintained constantly, and reinforcement is maintained as fiber content of 40-x%, where x is the particulate content in weight % was maintained for the different combination of fabrication parameters. The tensile strength of fabricated composites has been evaluated as per ASTM standards. The effect of fiber length and filler content on the mechanical behaviors of banana fiber-polyester composites was studied using ANOVA and surface plots. The nonlinear regression models have developed for the prediction of mechanical behaviors over the specified range of conditions and optimized the better values of parameter.