International Journal of Engineering Research

Volume No.5, Issue No.4, pp : 285-288 1 April 2016

ISSN:2319-6890)(online),2347-5013(print)

Fabrication and Testing of Natural Fiber Hybrid Composites

R.Prem Kumar, Guddakesh Kumar Chandan, R.Ramamoorthi
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology
prem.kumaran42@gmail.com
Abstract- Inthe growing environmental awareness bio-fiber
reinforced plastic composite has received increasing attention
during the recent years. The composites have lot of advantages
over the traditional glass fiber or mineral filled ceramic
materials including low cost, light weight, eco friendliness and
recyclability. In this paper I use banana, bamboo and pine
apple fibers. By using the above mentioned three
reinforcement with epoxy resin we will be provided with
combinations of banana/bamboo, pineapple/bamboo and
banana/pineapple hybrid composites. By the combination of all
the three fibers we get bamboo/banana/pineapple hybrid
composites. The percentage of resin added is about 70% and
the fiber is of 30%. The fabricated samples are subjected to
mechanical and physical tests as per the ASTM standards. The
best combination is suggested for the manufacturing of
automobile applications.
Keywords -Banana, Bamboo, Pineapple, Hybrid Composites,
ASTM Testing.
I .Introduction
For the past several years, public attention has gone on
natural fibers as a resource due to the fast growth. Now a day,
natural fibers are widely used as reinforcements both in partially
and totally biodegradable Natural fiber Composites. Natural
fibers are an alternative resource to synthetic fibers as
reinforcement for polymeric materials for the manufacture of
cheap, renewable and environmentally friendly composites.
Waste plastic has caused unbearable stress to environment in
recent years. Environmental awareness, new rules and
legislations are forcing industries to seek new materials which
are more environmentally friendly.

II .Materials And Methodology

In this project I have used three types of natural fiber
such as banana, bamboo, pineapple. These fibers are cleaned by
chemical process by immersing the fibers in NAOH solution for
some hours and then its dries using hot air oven for one hour.
Then the fibers are chopped to 250mm length and made ready
for the manufacturing process.Fiber configuration and volume
fraction are two important factors that affect the properties of the
composite. First, the mold is polished and then a moldreleasing
agent (Polyvinyl alcohol) applied on the surface is used to
facilitate easy removal of the composite from the mold after
curing. The low temperature curing epoxy resin LY556 and
corresponding hardener (HY951) are mixed in a ratio of 10:1 by
weight as recommended.
The mixing is done thoroughly before the mixture filled
into the mold of 300 x 300 x 3 mm size and pressed in a
hydraulic press at a temperature of 80 oc and a pressure of
1.2MPa for 1 hour is applied before it is removed from the mold.
Then, this casted plate is post cured in the laboratory at standard
atmosphere for some hours. Then the molded plates are cut as
per the ASTM standards for various mechanical property testing.

Plant fibers from agricultural crops are renewable

materials which have potential for creating green products and
replacing synthetic materials which are currently being used
such as glass fiber, carbon fiber and plastic fibers. The
combinations of bio-fiber and bio-polymer could be the products
of fully biodegradable composites. Among others, natural fibers
(e.g. bamboo, flax, jute or sisal) reinforced materials have
important significance for reduction of density in automobile
construction components due to its higher specific stiffness and
specific tensile strength. Many attempts were made by the
scientists and technologists to utilize natural fibers in the
fabrication of composites. It has been found that theses natural
fiber-reinforced composites possess better electrical resistance,
chemical resistance, and good thermal and acoustic insulating
properties.

Figure 1: Compression Molding Machine

Figure 2: Plates Made Using Compression Molding

IJER@2016

doi : 10.17950/ijer/v5s4/414

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International Journal of Engineering Research

Volume No.5, Issue No.4, pp : 285-288 1 April 2016
III . RESULTS AND TABLES

ISSN:2319-6890)(online),2347-5013(print)

Tensile Strength :
It is well known that fiber strength is mainly
responsible for strength properties of the composite. The
variation of tensile strength for different hybrid combinations is
shown in Figure 3. With different combinations of hybrid
composites the tensile strength varies between 27.67 and
55.32Mpa. It is found to be maximum for the combination of
banana/bamboo/pineapple hybrid composite. Where as in the
two combinations of fiber banana/pineapple have higher strength
compared to other combinations.
Figure 6: Flexural Load vs Flexural Strength
Impact Strength :

Figure 3: Tensile Strength for Composite Types

Figure 4: Tensile Load vs Tensile Strength

Standard notch according to ASTM D 256 was done on

the specimens (rectangular bar) before impact test was
conducted. The width and thickness of the specimens were
measured via vernier caliper and the readings were recorded.
The results indicated that the maximum impact strength is
obtained for banana/bamboo/pineapple hybrid.Where as in the
two combinations of fiber banana/pineapple have higher impact
strength compared to other combinations.

Figure 7: Impact Strength for Composite Types

Flexural Strength :
The variation of flexural strength for different hybrid
combinations is shown in Figure 5. With different combinations
of hybrid composites the flexural strength varies between 50.59
and 149.85Mpa. It is found to be maximum for the combination
of banana/bamboo/pineapple hybrid composite.Where as in the
two combinations of fiber banana/pineapple have higher flexural
strength compared to other combinations.

Figure 8: Composite Types vs Impact Strength

Compression Strength :

Figure 5: Flexural Strength for Composite Types

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The variation of compression strength for different

hybrid combinations is shown in Figure 9. With different
combinations of hybrid composites the flexural strength varies
between 39.20 and 51.56Mpa. It is found to be maximum for the
combination of banana/bamboo/pineapple hybrid composite.

doi : 10.17950/ijer/v5s4/414

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International Journal of Engineering Research

Volume No.5, Issue No.4, pp : 285-288 1 April 2016

ISSN:2319-6890)(online),2347-5013(print)
cloth and reweighted to measure the percentage gain of water
intake. As it is clearly seen, generally water absorption increases
with immersion time, reaching a certain value at saturation point
where no more water was absorbed and the composites water
content remained constant. The pineapple/bamboo has more
water absorption as compared to other hybrid composites.

Figure 9: Compression Strength for Composite Types

Figure 13: Percentage of Water Gain for Composite Types

Figure10: Composite Types vs Compression Strength
Hardness Test :
The hardness test is done for the composites types, in
which there are three trials taken and the average of all the three
is taken as final reading. The hardness varies from 29.3 to 98.6.
The hybrid combination of banana/bamboo has higher hardness
value. The results are shown the figure 11 below.
Figure 14: Composite Types vs Water Gain Percentage
IV . CONCLUSION

Figure 11: Hardness for Composite Types

The experiments were carried out to determine tensile,

flexural, impact, compression, hardness and water absorption for
all four different hybrid composites. From the results, I conclude
that the tensile, impact, flexural and compression strength the
hybrid combination of banana/pineapple is more compared to
other hybrid combinations of two fibers. Whereas in the
hardness and water absorption test the hybrid combination of
pineapple/bamboo have higher readings compared to other
composite types.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I really thank my college Sri Krishna College of
Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore for granting
permission to use the facilities available there including the
manufacturing and testing processes.
I really thank my guide Dr.R.Ramamoorthi, faculty, Sri
Krishna College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore
for guiding me so sincerely and helping me whenever I had a
doubt in completing my project.

Figure 12: Composite Types vs Hardness value

REFERENCES
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The Flexural tested samples were immersed in water for
5 days as per standards. After 5 days samples dried by using
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Volume No.5, Issue No.4, pp : 285-288 1 April 2016
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