Experimental Investigation on the Mechanical Properties of Veli Karuvelam – Neem Hybrid Composites

ABSTRACT

Natural fibers-reinforced hybrid composites are acquiring more interest in automobile, marine, and aerospace fields due to its light weight characteristics. The purpose of this research is to develop a new material based on natural fibers for the aforementioned applications. The natural fibers such as Veli Karuvelam and Neem were selected for the investigation. As both the fibers are considered as weed in the agricultural fields, it could be a noteworthy to convert weed into useful material. Hybrid composites were fabricated using Veli Karuvelam and Neem fibers by hand layup method. Totally, five different types of composites were fabricated viz. N:V (1:0), N:V (0:1), N:V (1:3), N:V (1:1), and N:V (3:1). The fibers characteristics were analyzed by TGA and FTIR techniques. Further, the mechanical and moisture uptake behaviors of composites were investigated. TGA results showed that the Veli Karuvelam fiber possessed better thermal stability than Neem fiber. Tensile and flexural studies revealed that the N:V (0:1) composite exhibited the maximum tensile strength of 65 MPa and maximum flexural strength of 240 MPa due to the stuffing of more amount of high strength Veli Karuvelam fibers that involved in better stress transfer. Impact study resulted that the N:V (0:1) composite displayed the maximum impact energy of 6.5 kJ/m² owing to the better energy absorption behavior of inner structure of composite. Further, the moisture absorption study revealed that the N:V (1:0) composite absorbed more moisture compared to all other composites due to the intrinsic property of Neem fiber to hold more moisture. Furthermore, it was concluded from this research that the I:V (0:1) composite could a potential candidate for the application in automobile, marine, and aviation fields as showed better performance.

摘要

天然纤维增强混杂复合材料因其重量轻的特点,在汽车、船舶和航空航天领域获得了越来越多的关注. 本研究的目的是开发一种基于天然纤维的新材料,用于上述应用. 本次调查选用了Veli Karuvelam和印楝等天然纤维. 由于这两种纤维都被认为是农田中的杂草,因此将杂草转化为有用的材料可能是一个值得注意的问题. 以Veli Karuvelam和Neem纤维为原料,采用手工铺层法制备了混杂复合材料. 共制备了五种不同类型的复合材料,即:N:V(1:0),N:V(0),N:V(1:3),N:V(1:1)和N:V(3:1). 采用TGA和FTIR技术分析了纤维特性. 进一步研究了复合材料的力学性能和吸湿性能. TGA结果表明,Veli Karuvelam纤维比印楝纤维具有更好的热稳定性. 拉伸和弯曲研究表明,N:V(0:1)复合材料的最大拉伸强度为65 MPa,最大弯曲强度为240 MPa,这是因为填充了更多的高强度Veli-Karuvelam纤维,从而实现了更好的应力传递. 冲击研究结果表明,N:V(0:1)复合材料的最大冲击能量为6.5kj/m2,这是因为复合材料的内部结构具有更好的能量吸收性能. 此外,吸湿性研究表明,与所有其他复合材料相比,N:V(1:0)复合材料吸收了更多的水分,这是因为印楝纤维具有保持更多水分的固有特性. 此外,本研究还得出结论,I:V(0:1)复合材料在汽车、海洋和航空领域具有潜在的应用前景,表现出更好的性能

KEYWORDS:

• Veli Karuvelam
• Neem
• hybrid composite
• mechanical properties
• moisture absorption behavior

关键词:

• 关键词
• 印楝
• 混合复合材料
• 机械性能
• 吸湿行为

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).