Natural Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites Research Articles

Influence of graphene nanoplatelets on the physical and mechanical properties of hybrid natural fiber reinforced epoxy composites

Influence of graphene nanoplatelets on the physical and mechanical properties of hybrid natural fiber reinforced epoxy composites

Effects of Fiber Treatment and Humidity on the Mechanical, Fracture Toughness, Dynamic and Thermal Properties of Grewia Optiva Natural Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Abstract The effects of relative humidity, and fiber treatment on the mechanical properties of Grewia Optiva natural fibres reinforced composites were studied. The results revealed that the fiber reinforcement composition with Benzoyl peroxide treatment on NaOH pretreated fiber (BP) shows optimum results at 90% relative humidity. The corresponding experimental results of the tensile strength (MPa), % elongation, flexural strength (MPa), impact strength (kJ/m2), and fracture toughness (MPa vm) were 260.895, 5.230, 52.572, 33.226, and 2.565 respectively. The surface response method yielded the optimum properties with D value as 0.768 and properties variation between 1 to 6%. TGA analysis shows a considerable amount of variation in the rate of degradation after the chemical treatment of fibers. Decrease in the damping factor and increase in glass transition temperature due to chemical treatment shows increased fiber matrix interfacial bonding and cross linking. SEM images show that BP treatment is more suitable than NaOH treatment to remove the undesirable elements from the fiber surface and higher surface roughness to obtain better bonding between fibre and matrix. The fiber diameter reduction due to BP and NaOH treatment is about 57 %, and 52.62 % as compared to untreated fiber.

Physical, Mechanical, and Thermal Properties of Natural Fiber-Reinforced Epoxy Composites for Construction and Automotive Applications

Industrialization and population growth have significantly increased the demand for lightweight, high-strength materials for construction and automotive applications, ultimately increasing the demand for eco-friendly materials. Due to its environmental acceptability, technological feasibility, and economic viability, natural fiber-reinforced composite exhibits many potential engineering applications. However, the production and recycling of natural fibers are expensive. Researchers are now comparing natural fiber-reinforced composites with synthetic composites to determine the best materials, especially for construction and automotive engineering applications. This review paper focuses on natural fiber reinforced epoxy composites’ physical, mechanical, and thermal characteristics. These properties are critical for the effective design and use of composite materials such as construction and automotive applications. This review begins with a background of epoxy and natural fibers. The physical and chemical treatment for natural fiber composites to improve their properties is also briefly discussed, along with the critical factors affecting the physical, mechanical, and thermal properties of natural fiber-reinforced composites. Finally, concluding remarks and suggestions for future works are given.

ANALYSIS OF DRILLED HOLE QUALITY AND CIRCULARITY ERROR WHILE DRILLING JUTE-FLAX HYBRID COMPOSITES

This work is conducted typically to understand and analyse the quality of the drilled hole and the circularity errors associated with it, while the drilling is performed on the hybrid natural fibre reinforced epoxy composites prepared by simple hand layup technique. Materials used for the composite preparation includes jute-flax fibres along with the epoxy base. Experiments were conducted by considering the design of experiments using taguchi technique and the holes were drilled accordingly with varying parametric conditions and different drill sizes. The holes were analysed under a microscope and the quality of holes were studied which showed the comparison of delamination at the entry as well as the exit for different drilling conditions. The circularity error measurement for the drilled holes is conducted using coordinate measuring machine (CMM) which follows the minimum zone evaluation method. The observations are made on to which combination of drill parameters yield lesser circularity error and the effect of the combination of parameters are studied, followed by the optimization of process parameters done by RSM.

Study on influence of nano-filler content on the performance of natural fibre reinforced epoxy composites

The purpose of this research is to determine the influence of nano-titania (nano-TiO2) on the impact strength and water absorbing capabilities of jute fibre reinforcement in epoxy polymer composite material. Compression moulding was used to fabricate the composite plates. By magnetic stirring and ultrasonication, epoxy was mixed with nano-titania at loading rates of 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 vol fractions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to characterise the microstructure. The results reveal that the inclusion of nano-titania significantly improves the impact strength of the jute fibrer reinforced epoxy composite system. Particularly, 1.0% of nano-titania was determined to be the optimal fraction for obtaining maximum performance of the jute/epoxy composite. The impact strength was increased by 39.35%. The use of 1.0% of nano-titania nanoparticles lowered the water diffusion by 18.18%.

Design and Analysis of Natural Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites for Automobile Applications

The need for eco-friendly materials is increasing in the automobile and aerospace sectors. Material selection for automobile components is influenced by various factors such as cost, weight and strength. Natural fibers offer various advantages over conventional materials such as environment friendly, easily available, recyclable and higher specific strength. Among the natural fibers Sisal and Kenaf fibers are selected for present study due to their good mechanical properties and availability. Kenaf fibers have great potential to be used as construction and automotive materials due to their long fibers which are derived from the bast. Sisal fibers do not absorb moisture and possess good impact, sound absorbing properties and high fire resistance properties. Epoxy LY556 is selected as matrix material to bind the combination of these two natural fibers due to its high temperature resistance and adherence to reinforcements. This project aim is to development of a new hybrid natural composite made of Sisal and Kenaf for automobile application. Static analysis of specimen will be perform utilizing in ANSYS 19 software to determine force reaction for specified displacement with both composite materials along with stress concentration effect with deformation. Results and end will be drawn by looking at systematic and experimental esteems.

Effect of fillers on water and chemical absorption behavior of natural fiber reinforced epoxy composites

Effect of fillers on water and chemical absorption behavior of natural fiber reinforced epoxy composites

Drilling performance of flax fibre epoxy composites: Induced thrust force and delamination damage analyses

Abstract Drilling of fibre reinforced composites is challenging because it causes severe damage that can deteriorate the mechanical performance of the composites. In this experimental study, flax natural fibre reinforced epoxy composites were used as samples for assessment of drilling parameters on drilling thrust force and delamination damage. Drill diameter, spindle speed and feed rate were the drilling parameters used for analyses of delamination damage and thrust force. Taguchi method of L18 orthogonal array was implemented as the experimental design layout. The elucidation of delamination damage was carried out using delamination factor whereas the acquisition of thrust forces were completed using a Kistler force dynamometer. Results showed that the tool diameter had the greatest influence on the thrust force. It is suggested that lower feed rate should be able to minimise the peel up delamination at the entrance and push out delamination at the exit surface of the composites. Thereupon, larger feed rate resulted in the excessive thrust force that induced higher delamination damage on flax fibre composites.

Optimization of Alkali Treatment Process Parameters for Kenaf Fiber: Experiments Design

ABSTRACT Alkali treatment of natural fibers will improve the mechanical, chemical, and thermal characteristics of natural fiber reinforced epoxy composites. The influence of alkali treatment on the improvement of mechanical strength of natural fiber reinforced epoxy composites depends on the selection of process parameters of the treatment. In this work, the optimization of four key process parameters for alkali treatment of kenaf fiber has been studied using orthogonal array-oriented fractional factorial experimental design. The concentration of sodium hydroxide solution, process temperature, time, and fiber to solution weight ratio were the four chosen parameters and the tensile strength of the composite sample fabricated with treated kenaf fiber and epoxy resin was taken as output response. The hand layup method was used to fabricate the composite materials, and specimens were prepared for the tensile test. All samples were fabricated by ensuring the fiber weight ratio of 40%. Five samples were prepared at each experiment category, and mean values were taken for analysis. The results revealed that 6% NaOH solution, 30°C process temperature, 8 hours process time, and 1:15 fiber to solution weight ratio are identified as optimum process parameters for a tensile strength of 58.16 MPa.

Finite element analysis for predicting the vibration characteristics of natural fiber reinforced epoxy composites

Modal analysis is a tool to predict the vibration characteristics such as natural frequencies, mode shapes and viscous damping coefficients of the structures. These characteristics play an important role in engineering design and analysis. In this paper, the prediction of vibration characteristics or modal-modal of cantilever beam made of neat epoxy and various natural fiber composites carried out by using finite element analysis software ANSYS 20.0. In this study, the natural fibers such as jute, banana, coconut coir, hemp and kenaf fibers are used as reinforcement in the epoxy matrix. The size of beam is 160 mm × 20 mm × 3 mm. The volume fraction of fiber is 33.33% taken for all natural fiber composite materials. The natural frequencies, damping factor and frequency response function bode plot are obtained with the help of ANSYS software. The damping factor is found out using half power bandwidth method from frequency response function bode plot. The natural frequency and damping factors of different natural fiber composites are compared with epoxy material. It is found from this analytical study that the damping factor values for each natural fiber composite material have higher values corresponding to each mode than that of epoxy material. Hence, it is concluded that the natural fiber composites have better damping properties than epoxy material. Hemp and kenaf fiber composite materials have similar values of natural frequencies for lower modes (1st mode and 2nd mode) and at higher modes (5th mode and 6th mode) respectively.

Graphene nanoplatelet modified basalt/epoxy multi-scale composites with improved tribological performance

The wear performance of non-toxic and respiratory non-hazardous natural fiber reinforced epoxy composites has steadily become an important design parameter due to their increasing applications in self‐lubricating and sliding components in contact with metal counterparts. Epoxy matrix has weak wear resistance, and reinforcing the matrix with nano-sized particles has been shown to improve the tribological performance of the resulting multi-scale composites. For this, the epoxy matrix was reinforced with various concentrations of GNPs, and the BF/EP composites were fabricated via the vacuum bagging method, subsequently. The tensile strength and modulus were enhanced up to 42.5 and 74.5% compared to the bare BF/EP laminates, respectively. Moreover, the ball-on-disk wear tests revealed that GNP reinforcement was reasonably effective in reducing the coefficient of friction (23%) in contact areas. As a result, GNP reinforced BF/EP composites exhibited 60% higher wear resistance. In addition to well-known solid lubricant characteristics of GNPs, thermal camera recordings were identified that the improved thermal conductivity in all directions was also responsible for the enhanced tribological performance. The microscopic studies identified the related micro-scale mechanisms responsible for the improved tribological performance of the multi-scale composites. We proposed a unique wear mechanism to represent the tribological behavior of the GNP reinforced BF/EP composites based on electron microscopy and thermal camera recordings.

Evaluation of Mechanical and Wear Performances of Natural Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites

ABSTRACT The possible usage of natural fiber reinforced composites (NFC) for various industrial applications is being explored. In the present work, mechanical and wear behavior of three different NFCs were analyzed. Natural fibers like prosopis juliflora (PJ), abuliton indicum (AI), and tapsi (T) fibers in the form of straws were considered in the present study. Composites were fabricated for three different fibers with 20 wt.% by hand layup method. Mechanical tests like tensile, flexural, and impact were performed along with tribological tests. Tensile and flexural were performed on universal testing machine, impact on izod impact tester, and wear test on pin-on-disc test setup. Wear tests on the fabricated composite samples were performed with varying the process parameters like sliding speed and applied load with a maximum sliding distance of 3000 m. SEM analysis was also performed on the fractured and worn out samples to know the bonding behavior, failure, and material removal mechanism of three NFCs. Among all the NFCs, prosopis juliflora fiber attained an improved mechanical and wear behaviors when contrasted to the other two NFCs.

Potential of Syngonanthus nitens fiber as a reinforcement in epoxy composite and its mechanical characterization

Syngonanthus nitens, locally called Sikki grass, is one of such potential natural fiber resources whose potential as a reinforcement in polymer matrix composite has not been explored till date. Natural fiber-reinforced epoxy composites are getting more importance between the research community in recent time. These types of composites are environment-friendly, biodegradable and having the comparable specific strength with respect to synthetic fiber composite. The present work is associated with fabrication of Syngonanthus nitens short fiber-reinforced epoxy polymer composite of different fiber fractions (10, 20, 30 and 40 wt%) by hand layup method. Mechanical tests were performed for characterization as per ASTM standard. It is observed that 30 wt% of fiber fraction composite gives the optimum strength among all weight percentage of fiber. EDS, XRD and FTIR analysis were carried out for finding the constituent proportion, crystallographic structure and organic functional group of the fiber and its composite. SEM study of fractured surfaces was also carried out for finding the fracture mechanism.

Impact and hardness properties of honeycomb natural fibre reinforced epoxy composites

Recently, the natural fibre-reinforced polymer is rapidly growing both in terms of their industrial applications and fundamental research. These composites are having low density and cost as well as satisfactory mechanical properties which make them attractive for automobiles, railways coaches and aerospace. This work describes the development of honeycomb natural fibre reinforced epoxy composites. The impact and hardness properties were characterized by using Izod impact and Brinell hardness tester. The morphologies of the impact fracture of honeycomb natural fibre reinforced epoxy composites were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The composites were prepared via casting technique, the mixture of epoxy resin and the honeycomb natural fiber were mixed using mechanical stirrer. The composites that contain 9 wt% of honeycomb natural fiber exhibited the highest impact strength and hardness at 98 J/m and 58.09 HB. These results illustrate the possibilities of a honeycomb of beeswax can be a filler for reinforcing composites.

Effect of nano SiO2 on properties of natural fiber reinforced epoxy hybrid composite: A review

For the last few decades several researches have been focussed on the natural fibres and their composites due to their high potential to replace synthetic fiber in numerous applications like column, turbine blade, beam, automotive parts etc. due to the unique properties such as low density, better specific mechanical properties compared to synthetic fibre reinforced composites. The present review reports on the use of nano SiO2 as filler to enhance the dynamic behaviour of the natural fibre reinforced epoxy composites. The mechanical and dynamic behaviour of the natural fibre composites has been studied with or without filler and they are compared. Nano SiO2 has been preferred as filler material because of its low cost, light weight, easily availability and superior properties.

Experiment work on the Effect of Hygrothermal Environment on the Mechanical Behaviour of Natural Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites

In todays industrial scenario the need for bio degradable matreials in all the fields including automobile and mechanical field is increasing . To satisfy this needs we need to find an alternative natural sorce based materials with similar properties. These natural products attribute can be enhanced using some processing techniques and by adding suitable chemicals. Composite materials are the one which is ruling our world and the need for them is high due ton their high srength to weight ratio. Thus composite research is happening in large number throughout the world, in which the hybrid composite manufacturing has been wide range of investigations. The composites have superior properties like light weight, low density, stiffness, and better mechanical properties. The present work aims on mechanical and thermal behaviours of GKG, GAG, and KGA fibre reinforced epoxy composites. Hand layup method used for fabricate hybrid composite laminates. Work has been carried out to explore the tensile strength, Hygrothermal exposure. For testing and analysis, the specimens are cut as per ASTM standards.

A Novel Work on the Thermal Behaviour of Natural Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites

The need for bio degradable material in all the fields including automobile and mechanical field is growing due to the awareness and polution and enviromenat safety norms. To satisfy this need needs, alternative natural product with similar kind of properties has to be identify . Where these natural products attribute can be enhanced using some processing techniques and by adding suitable chemicals. Composite materials are the one which is ruling our world and the need for them is marginally high and we need to find new enhanced matrices which have much more good qualities than the old one and find the alternate for them in their existence. The hybrid composite manufacturing has been wide range of investigations. The composites have superior properties like light weight, low density, stiffness, and better mechanical properties. The present work aims on mechanical and thermal behaviours of GKG, GAG, and KGA fibre reinforced epoxy composites. Hand layup method used for fabricate hybrid composite laminates. The thermogravimetric analysis, heat distortion temperature test are carried out to find its thermal stability. For testing and analysis, the specimens are cut as per ASTM standards.

Flexural and energy absorption properties of natural-fiber reinforced composites with a novel fabrication technique

Abstract In this paper, two types of natural fibers (jute fiber and cotton fiber) were arranged in different cross-section positions on natural fiber-reinforced epoxy composites (NFR-EC) by using a novel hole arrangement–threading–glue filling method. A three-point bending experiment was carried out to reveal the flexural response, failure types, and energy absorption properties of NFR-EC. An analytical model was applied to analyze the force distribution of natural fibers and epoxy in NFR-EC. Results showed that the hole arrangement–threading–glue filling method successfully manufactured an NFR-EC, which can adjust the volume fraction and cross-section position of natural fibers and the cross-sectional shape of NFR-EC. The addition of fibers below the neutral axis of the cross-section significantly improved the flexural properties and energy absorption capacity of NFR-EC.

Mechanical properties of natural fiber reinforced epoxy composites: A review

Natural fibers have been in researchers’ attention these days for their low cost, availability, ease of manufacturing and potential environment friendliness for studying their feasibility as reinforcing agents in composites. Numerous research works are being carried out across the globe to increase the thermal, tribological as well as mechanical properties of these engineered biocomposites and they have proved their potential in wide range of applications including bio-medical and bio-technological fields. This review aims to discuss the mechanical properties attained by the composite after natural fiber reinforcement and the various factors affecting the mechanical properties of the natural fiber composites (NFCs). It also focuses on the applicability of natural fibers as a substitute for synthetic fibers in large domain of application.

Study of mechanical and water absorption characteristics of natural fibre reinforced epoxy composites

In the fast developing world, research is mainly focussed on development of renewable and eco-friendly materials as an alternative to non-biodegradable and non-renewable materials which are resulting in environmental pollution. The fibres from the natural sources such as animal and plant based offers various advantages over synthetic fibres such as abundant in nature, economical, ease of handling and processing, comparable strength and minimum amount of waste dispose. In this work, three composites are fabricated using cyperus pangorei, sponge gourd, palm fibres and banana fibres as the main reinforcing materials and epoxy resin as the matrix in order to increase the effectiveness of the natural fibre. It is envisaged to fabricate and study the banana-sponge gourd fibre, banana-cyperus pangorei fibre, banana-palm leaf fibre as a reinforced material in polymer matrix composite. Hand layup process is used to fabricate the composite samples with different fibre volume fractions. The tensile, flexural, impact and water absorption testing have been performed on these natural fibre composites. Initial optimum length and weight percentage were determined. The results are obtained from the mechanical properties testing and compared among all the three combinations. Composite with Sponge gourd along with Banana as reinforcement with epoxy matrix has got the maximum tensile, flexural and impact strength. This composite has also got lower water absorption property.