Water Absorption Kinetics and Mechanical Properties of Ultrasonic Treated Banana Fiber Reinforced-vinyl Ester Composites

Abstract

This work focuses on the effect of ultrasonic treatment on the water absorption characteristics and the mechanical properties of woven banana fiber composites. Banana fibers were initially treated with NaOH solution. These were then subjected to ultrasonic treatment while preparing the composites. Similar method was followed earlier to study the effect on water absorption property of the composites which showed encouraging results (Ghosh et al., 2013). A mathematical analysis is done to find the diffusion kinetics. These composites were also tested for their mechanical strengths. The mechanical strengths were found to be better than the composites made in the general procedure. This shows that the composites prepared with ultrasonic treatment have superior properties and can be suitable for wide range of applications.