EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON THE EFFECTS OF PROCESS PARAMETERS AFFECTING THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF MUSA ACUMINATA FIBRE REINFORCED THERMOSETTING POLYMER COMPOSITES

摘要

Synthetic fibers such as glass, carbon, and ceramic fibers imported at huge cost could be replaced by natural fibers such as flax, hemp, jute, and kenaf. In this research work, banana fiber reinforced vinylester matrix composites have been developed by hand lay up molding technique with varying parameters, such as fiber condition (untreated and chemically treated), fiber sizes 10, 30 and 50 cm and fiber content (10%, 30% and 50% by weight). The developed banana fiber reinforced composites were then characterized by chemical methods. The results show that tensile strength increases with increase in the fiber size and content; however, after a certain size and fiber content, the tensile strength decreased again. The maximum tensile strength was 1127N/mm~2 at a fiber length of 2.2cm and volume fraction of 36%. The maximum flexural strength was 67.15N/mm~2 occurring at km fibre length and 50% vol fraction. The minimum creep strength was 2 × 10~(-4)s~(-1) occurring at 3.2 cm fibre length and 30% vol fraction.