Investigation on Physical and Mechanical Properties of Banana and Palmyra Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Abstract

The present work addresses the physical and mechanical properties of banana and palmyra fiber reinforced epoxy composites with the aim of study on the effect of weight ratio and fiber percentage. The banana and palmyra fibers were arranged with different weight ratios (1:1, 1:3, and 3:1) and then mixed with the epoxy matrix by hand lay-up technique to prepare the hybrid composites with various fiber percentages (10%, 20%, 30% and 40%). The properties are measured by testing its density, water absorption, tensile strength, impact strength, hardness and flexural strength and compared. From the results, it was indicated that addition of banana and palmyra fiber in to the matrix material up to 30% by fiber percentage results in increasing the mechanical properties and slightly variation with weight ratios. Interfacial analysis of the hybrid composites were also observed by using scanning electron microscope (SEM) to study the internal failures and micro structure of the tested specimen.