Study on Bagasse Reinforced Waste Thermoplastic Composite: Compressive Strength and Water Absorption

Abstract

This study reported that the compressive strength and water absorption properties of thermoplastic reinforced with bagasse and sand composite materials. In recent times, the population of the country is increasing rapidly, and in parallel, their demand for residence also increasing. However, there is a shortage of resources of former conventional construction materials to satisfy their needs. Besides this, the former conventional is environmentally degradable. Moreover, construction cost increases from time to time. Due to this reason, the choice of an alternative material is needed in construction. Bio-based composite has developed from sugarcane bagasse, sand as reinforcement, and the recycled thermoplastic as the matrix. The biocomposite specimen was prepared for compressive strength and water absorption test. The compressive strength and water absorption test of the biocomposite are tested. The compressive strength test was conducted by Toni Technik automatic compressive strength test machine. The result shows that the average compressive strength of 3.01 MPa. With the dispersion 0.73 from the mean average strength. The dimensional change due to water absorption is 1.24% within 24 hours. This result shows a small dimensional change. The result compared with Ethiopian Standard building Code (ESC D3 301) and the developed bio-composite using sand, sugar cane bagasse and thermoplastics composite was a satisfactory result of residential construction.