Manufacturing and Analysis of Banana-Epoxy Composite fibre

Abstract

The usage of natural fibre as reinforcement in polymer composites has increased in the recent years with rising concerns of environmental pollution and the heavy dependence on synthetic fibres from petroleum products of the middle east and the amount of material available in the tropical countries for such low prices. These materials can decrease our dependency on conventional materials like plastics, thereby decreasing the amount of pollution we cause on disposal and manufacturing of those. In general, the impact strength of the natural fibre composites is considered to be low and this experiment quantifies these results. This research describes the fabrication of a polymer composite, using banana fibre as the reinforcement and epoxy as the polymer matrix. A sequence of samples was prepared by varying various parameters like length, volume fraction and treatment of the fibre. The parameters were optimized using Taguchi’s DOE and the combination of parameters which yields us the best result and the contribution of each parameter. The impact strength has been studied using IZOD impact tester. The work has quantified that the impact strength of the composite depends mostly on the volume fraction and also only up to a certain range and then decreases as we increase the quantity of fibre. The same goes with both alkali treatment and length of the fibre which also contribute respectively. The optimum length, volume fraction and chemical are 1mm, 25 wt% and 2% NaOH treatment shows better result.

Vibrational analysis of glass/ramie fiber reinforced hybrid polymer composite

“…Since the 1960s, the application of natural and synthetic fiber‐reinforced polymer composites has increased tremendously in the fields of railcars, [ 1 ] interior paneling, [ 2 ] fishing rods, [ 3 ] wind turbine blade, [ 4 ] sporting goods industry, ice skating boards, baseball bats, musical instruments, [ 5 ] automotive, window frames and bicycle frames, [ 6 ] construction, [ 7 ] marine application, storage tanks, aerospace industry (wings, tails, propellers), automobile industry, boat hulls, [ 8 ] due to their remarkable mechanical properties. [ 9–12 ] In that, natural fiber (NF) gains more attention [ 13,14 ] than synthetic fiber because of its ecological character, low weight, biodegradability, low cost, safe handling, nonabrasive nature, high specific properties, high filling levels, non‐irritation to the skin, low energy consumption, carbon dioxide reduction in nature, stiffness and insulation characteristics, flexibility, low density, damping and a wide variety of fiber categories. [ 15–17 ] The mechanical strength of the NF was dependent on the diameter and gauge lengths of the fiber.…”

Strength enhancement of a flame‐retardant hybrid composite by incorporating graphene nanoparticles for structural applications

“…In structural application, epoxy composites reinforced with glass-natural fibers are widely used because of their properties, such as lightweight, better fatigue performance, high strength-to-weight ratio, and excellent impact resistance. [1][2][3][4][5] Although it has great mechanical properties, but its applications are limited due to its high flammability and moisture absorption properties. 6,7 Natural plant fibers catch fire easily because they act as a source of fuel, 8 and glass fiber also catches fire easily owing to its candlewick effect.…”

Flammability and vibrational study of graphene incorporated epoxy/ramie/glass hybrid nanocomposite

“…Natural and/or synthetic fiber reinforced hybrid polymer composites play an important role in automobiles, 1 construction, 2 marine industries, 3 and ballistic, 4 due to their unique properties such as lightweight, good thermal insulation, high impact resistance, high strength to weight ratio, and better fatigue performance 5–7 . Different fiber combinations, such as natural‐natural, natural‐artificial, and artificial‐artificial fiber, are available in hybrid composites (HC) 8 .…”