A comprehensive study on machining characteristics of vetiver fiber reinforced polymer composites with coconut shell powder as filler

Abstract

Natural Fiber Reinforced Composites (NFRC) has now become significant domain of research due to presence of variety of plant fibres as reinforcements, which are readily available and bio-degradable. There are many studies on using natural fibres as reinforcements for polymer composites. These natural fibre reinforced polymer composites are finding itself as a viable alternative to synthetic fiber based composites. They are also explored for many industrial applications which possess equivalent and certain superior properties than conventional polymer composites. Thermoplastic composites show better machinability as it does not exhibit delamination factor. Vetiver fiber scientifically known as Chrysopogon Zizanioides shows good mechanical properties. Coconut shell powder has been proven to be a good filler material for NFRC's. Machining becomes requisite to facilitate the production and assembly of parts and product respectively. Composites machining poses a new challenges due to its presence of multiple distinct elements. In this paper a comprehensive study is done on the drilling behavior of different compositions of Polypropylene composites and Polyethylene composites. Vetiver Fiber is used as the natural fiber reinforcement and Coconut Shell Powder is used as the filler. The specimen would be prepared using Injection Moulding process. Empirical models will be developed to find the relationship between drilling factors namely, Spindle speed, Feed rate and Drill Geometry and the response variables namely, Thrust Force, Torque, Surface Roughness and Cylindricity. Further, all the compositions will be compared to find out the best composition.