Experimental study of tensile and flexural properties of kans grass fiber reinforced polyester composites

摘要

The present paper describes the use of kans grass fiber as a new natural fiber in composite development. The fibers are collected from riped kans grass plants and reinforced in to the polyester resin with 0, 10, 13.35, 18 and 20.08 vol%. The tensile strength, tensile modulus and the density of kans grass fiber are found to be 278-619 MPa, 8.1-11.1 GPa and 441 kg/m(3), respectively. The composites tensile strength and modulus increase with increase in the fiber vol% from 10 to 20.08. The flexural strength also increases with increase in fiber vol% but remains lower than that of the neat polyester. It has been further observed that the addition of fibers increases the flexural modulus and made the 20.08 vol% specimen 2.1 times stiffer than the neat specimen. The fiber reinforcement has noticeable improvement in specific tensile strength, and modulus and specific flexural modulus of the composite specimens whereas no significant increment is observed in specific flexural strength. This experimental study shows the potential of kans grass fibers in the development of composites for light weight applications due to its low density and better strength.