Experimental Investigation on the Mechanical Properties of Hybrid Composites Made with Banyan and Peepal Fibers

ABSTRACT

Industries demand a material with better strength and light weight for various applications. Natural composites are fulfilling the needs of industries partially. The purpose of the present research is to develop a new composite material with light weight and better strength. In this research, hybrid composites were fabricated by conventional hand layup method using natural fibers such as banyan and peepal. Totally, four composites were manufactured namely banyan (Epoxy: banyan: 70 wt%: 30 wt %), peepal (Epoxy: peepal: 70 wt%: 30 wt %), BPB (Epoxy: banyan: peepal: 70 wt%: 20 wt%: 10 wt %) and PBP (Epoxy: banyan: peepal: 70 wt%: 10 wt%: 20 wt %). Density and porosity of the composites were determined and the results showed that BPB composite exhibited a least density. Further, all the composites displayed the maximum porosity percentage of 5. Moreover, the mechanical properties like tensile, flexural and impact strengths were tested. The hybrid composite BPB showed 2.7%, 4.9% and 13.5% increase in tensile, flexural and impact strength respectively, compared to PBP composite. Furthermore, water absorption study was conducted and the results revealed that BPB composite absorbed less amount of water (9%) at the immersion time of 12 hours. Hence, it is suggested from the present investigation that the BPB hybrid composite could be a suitable candidate for the industrial applications with better mechanical properties and light weight.

摘要

工业需要具有更好强度和重量轻的材料用于各种应用. 天然复合材料部分满足了工业的需求。本研究的目的是开发一种重量轻、强度高的新型复合材料. 在本研究中,使用天然纤维 (如banyan和peepal) 通过传统的手工铺层方法制备混杂复合材料. 总共制造了四种复合材料,即banyan (环氧树脂: banyan:70wt%:30wt%) 、peepal (环氧树脂:peepal:70wt%:30wt%) 、BPB (环氧树脂:banyan:peepal:70wt%: 20wt%:10wt%) 和PBP环氧树脂. 测定了复合材料的密度和孔隙率,结果表明,BPB复合材料表现出最小的密度. 此外,所有复合材料的最大孔隙率均为5. 此外,还测试了拉伸、弯曲和冲击强度等力学性能. 与PBP复合材料相比,混杂复合材料BPB的拉伸、弯曲和冲击强度分别提高了2.7%、4.9%和13.5%. 此外,还进行了吸水性研究,结果表明,BPB复合材料在浸泡12小时时吸水量较少 (9%) . 因此,本研究表明,BPB混杂复合材料具有更好的机械性能和重量轻,是工业应用的合适候选材料.

KEYWORDS:

• Natural composite
• banyan fiber
• peepal fiber
• hybrid composite
• mechanical properties

关键词:

• 天然复合物
• Banyan纤维
• Peepal纤维
• 混合复合材料
• 机械性能

Highlights

• Hybrid composite was made using natural fibers such as banyan and peepal for industrial light weight applications

• Four composites were manufactured namely banyan, peepal, BPB and PBP

• BPB composite exhibited light weight compared to other composites

• BPB composite showed higher mechanical properties and least moisture absorption characteristics than that of PBP composite

Disclosure Statement

Nopotential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical Approval

We confirm that all the research meets ethical guidelines and adheres to the legal requirements of the study country. The research does not involve any human or animal welfare related issues.

Additional information

Funding

There is no funding assistance for this research work