EVALUATION OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF COCONUT COIR/BAMBOO FIBER REINFORCED POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITES

P. N. E. NAVEEN1 & R. V. PRASAD2 1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Godavari Institute of Engineering and Technology, Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, India 2Department of Mechanical Engineering, MLR Institute of Technology & Management (MLRITM), Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT

Fiber-reinforced polymer composites have played a dominant role for a longtime in a variety of applications for their high specific strength and modulus. The fiber which serves as a reinforcement in reinforced plastics may be synthetic or natural. Past studies show that only synthetic fibers such as glass, carbon etc., have been used in fiber-reinforced plastics. Although glass and other synthetic fiber-reinforced plastics possess high specific strength, their fields of application are very limited because of their inherent higher cost of production. An attempt has been made to utilize the coir, as natural fiber abundantly available in India. Natural fibers are not only strong and lightweight but also relatively very cheap. The present work describes the difference between development and characterization of a new set of natural fiber based polyester composites consisting of coir, bamboo fiber as reinforcement and epoxy resin. Coir composites are developed and their mechanical properties are evaluated, at six different volume fractions and tests were carried out and the results were presented. Experimental results showed static properties of the composites are greatly influenced by the increasing percentage of reinforcement, and indicate coir can be used as potential reinforcing material for many structural and non-structural applications.

KEYWORDS: Natural Coconut Fibers, Bamboo Fiber, Polyester Matrix, Different Volume Fractions of Reinforcement, Mechanical Properties