This study focuses on the potential use of natural fibers in composite materials, their availability, processing features, mechanical and physical properties, and some of their applications in India.

Natural fiber composites are termed as biocomposites or green composites. These fibers are green, biodegradable, and recyclable and have good properties such as low density and low cost when compared to synthetic fibers. The present work is investigated on the finite element analysis of the natural fiber (maize) composite beam, processed by means of hand lay-up method. Composite beam material is composed of stalk-based fiber of maize and unsaturated polyester resin polymer as matrix with methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP) as a catalyst and Cobalt Octoate as a promoter. The material was modeled and resembled as a structural beam using suitable assumption and analyzed by means of finite element method using ANSYS software for determining the deflection and stress properties. Morphological analysis and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis for the fiber were examined by means of scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffractometer. From the results, it has been found that the finite element values are acceptable with proper assumptions, and the prepared natural fiber composite beam material can be used for structural engineering applications.

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Natural fiber composites are more attractive due to their high specific strength and lightweight. The focus in this work has been to study the influence of wood fibres on the mechanical properties of the polymer composites manufactured by extrusion and injection moulding process. Tensile and flexural tests were conducted to evaluate the tensile and flexural properties of the compounded composites. The interfacial properties, internal cracks are evaluated by using Scanning Electron Microscope. The results indicate flexural strength of the wood plastic composites increases with decrease in wood particles content. The tensile strength of pure plastic blend is higher compared to wood plastic composites.

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