Prediction of Swelling Behaviour of Jute and Banana Fiber Composites by using ANN and Regression Analysis

Abstract

Jute fibers and banana fibers are the classes of affordable and biodegradable green fibers are being increasingly used as a substitute for the artificial glass and carbon fibers used in polymer composites. However, all natural fiber composites absorb water and swell in a moist environment. The objective is focusing on the determination of physical property of biodegradable and easily disposable natural fiber reinforced epoxy composites for automotive, household and architectural applications. The Swelling behavior of composites made from jute and banana fibers and epoxy is presented in this experimental characterization study. Swelling test is performed by immersing composite specimens into water at room temperature until absorption becomes constant. The results discuss that jute fiber reinforced composite absorbs less water within a period of time. The work also reports a comparative analysis of two methodologies for the prediction of physical property of natural fiber composites. However, ANN gives better result than the regression.