Fabrication and Characterization of Natural Fiber-Polymer Composites for Prosthesis Socket Application

Abstract

A natural fiber-reinforced composite from a locally available false banana plant is developed for a prosthesis socket application. Four batches of composite samples are fabricated by arranging the longitudinal uniformly distributed unidirectional false banana fibers in four orientations (0°, 90°, ±45°, 0°/90o). The composites’ mechanical and physical properties, such as tensile strength, compression strength, flexural strength, impact resistance, and the effect of chemical treatment on water absorption, are investigated. The results are compared with E-glass fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composite. The false banana fiber-polymer composites with a 0° fiber orientation have a tensile strength of 86.81 MPa, less than 9% lower than E-glass-fiber composites (95.44 MPa), and an impact resistance of 6.25 J, 10% higher compared to the E-glass fiber polymer composites (5.70 J). In addition, the treated false banana fiber-polymer composite absorbed 70% less water than the untreated false banana fiber-polymer composite. It is observed that the fiber treatment has increased the polymer–fiber interaction and the interface strength of the false banana fiber-polymer composites.