Mechanical and Water Transport Characterization of Indian Almond – Banana Fibers Reinforced Hybrid Composites for Structural Applications

ABSTRACT

In this investigation, hybrid composites were prepared for structural applications using Indian almond and Banana fibers by hand layup method. Five types of composites were fabricated viz. I-I-I-I, I-B-B-I, I-B-I-B, B-I-I-B & B-B-B-B and the mechanical & moisture absorption characteristics were studied. The tensile and flexural studies showed that the I-I-I-I composite displayed the maximum tensile and flexural strength of 61 MPa and 53 MPa, respectively, due to the placing of high strength Indian almond fiber at outer skin. The impact study resulted that the B-B-B-B composite exhibited the maximum impact strength (6.2 kJ/m²) owing to the presence of more void content (6.83%) that absorbed more impact energy. The moisture absorption study reported that the B-B-B-B composite absorbed the maximum moisture percentage of 21% at 11 days due to more void content whereas the I-I-I-I composite showed least moisture absorption of 15% at 11 days because of low void percentage. Further, the biodegradation study revealed that the B-B-B-B composite exhibited the maximum weight loss of 38% at 60 days due to more moisture absorption that weakened the bonding strength of matrix and fiber and the microorganism accelerated the degradation.

摘要

在这项研究中，杂化复合材料制备的结构应用使用印度杏仁和香蕉纤维的手叠法. 制备了五种类型的复合材料。研究了I-I-I、I-B-B-I、I-B-I-B、B-I-I-B和B-B-B-B的力学性能和吸湿性能. 拉伸和弯曲性能研究表明，由于高强度印度杏仁纤维的存在，I-I-I-I复合材料的最大拉伸和弯曲强度分别为61mpa和53mpa. 冲击研究表明，B-B-B-B复合材料具有最大的冲击强度（6.2kj/m2），这是由于存在更多的空隙率（6.83%），吸收了更多的冲击能量. 吸湿性研究报告说，由于孔隙含量较多，B-B-B-B复合材料在11天时吸湿率最大为21%，而I-I-I-I复合材料在11天时吸湿率最小，为15%，因为孔隙百分比较低. 此外，生物降解研究表明，B-B-B-B复合材料在60天时表现出38%的最大重量损失，因为更多的吸湿性削弱了基质和纤维的结合强度，微生物加速了降解.

KEYWORDS:

• Indian almond fiber
• banana fiber
• hybrid composite
• mechanical characterization
• moisture absorption

关键词:

• Indian almond fiber印度杏仁纤维
• Banana fiber香蕉纤维
• Hybrid composite混合复合材料
• Mechanical characterization机械特性
• moisture absorption吸湿性