Mechanical Characterization of the Natural Fiber Reinforced Polystyrene Composite

Abstract

In the present work, polystyrene composites using wheat husk, rice husk and mustard husk as fillers are synthesized using in-situ polymerisation technique. Three different filler loading (5%, 10% and 15 %) and three different filler sizes (250-355 µ, 355-500 µ, 500-710 µ) were utilized for the studying the effect of these compositions on different mechanical properties of the synthesized composites. The results have shown that the filler size 250-355 µ and 5 % loading give the maximum values for tensile strength, flexural strength and hardness for all the three types of fillers. While in case of water absorptivity lower the size/loading, lesser would be the water absorbed. The SEM analysis is done to study the fractured surface of the specimen.