A study of mechanical and heat resisting

property of coir fiber Reinforced with epoxy

Composite

RAHUL PRABHU B
GUIDE: DR S.S.SHARMA

LITERATURE REVIEW
S. Harish et al [1] investigated that the fiber which serves as a reinforcement in reinforced plastics
may be synthetic or natural. Past studies show that only artificial fibers such as glass, carbon etc.,
have been used in fiber-reinforced plastics. Although glass and other synthetic fiber-reinforced
plastics possess high specific strength, their fields of application are very limited because of the
inherent higher cost of production. In this connection, an investigation has been carried out to
make use of coir, a natural fiber abundantly available in India. Natural fibers are not only strong
and lightweight but also relatively very cheap. In the present work, coir composites are developed
and their mechanical properties are evaluated. Scanning electron Micrographs obtained from
fractured surfaces were used for a qualitative evaluation of the interfacial properties of coir/epoxy
and compared with glass fiber/epoxy. These results indicate that coir can be used as a potential
reinforcing material for making low load bearing thermoplastic composites.

D. Verma et al [2] investigated that the Increasing concern about global warming and depleting
petroleum reserves have made scientists to focus more on the use of natural fibers such as bagasse,
coir, sisal, jute etc. This has resulted in creation of more awareness about the use of natural fibers
based materials mainly composites. In past decade there has been many efforts to develop
composites to replace the petroleum and other non-decaying materials based products. The
abundant availability of natural fibre in India gives attention on the development of natural fibre
composites primarily to explore value-added application avenues. Reinforcement with natural
fibre in composites has recently gained attention due to low cost, easy availability, low density,
acceptable specific properties, ease of separation, enhanced energy recovery, C02 neutrality,
biodegradability and recyclable in nature. Agricultural wastes can be used to prepare fibre
reinforced polymer composites for commercial use. Although glass and other synthetic fibre-
reinforced plastics possess high specific strength, their fields of application are very limited
because of their inherent higher cost of production. In this connection, an investigation has been
carried out to make use of coir; a natural fibre abundantly available in India. This review discusses
the use of coir fibre and its current status of research. Many references to the latest work on
properties, processing and application have been cited in this review.

Wang wei et al [3] investigated that the Two thousand fibres were randomly taken from a coir
fiber stack, characters of the fibres were analyzed. It was shown that length of the fibres was in the
range between 8 and 337 mm. the fibres amount with the length range 15-145 mm was 81.95 %
of all measured fibres . Weight of fibres with the length range of 35 -225 mm accounted for 88.34%
Of all measurement. The average fineness of the coir fibres was 27.94 Tex. Longer fibres usually
had higher diameters.

U.S Bongarde et al [4] investigated the natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites is rapidly
growing both in terms of their industrial applications and fundamental research .they are
renewable, cheap, completely or partially recyclable and biodegradable. These composites are
having low density and cost as well as satisfactory mechanical properties make them an attractive
due to easy availability and renewability of raw materials. Natural fibers have been proven
alternative to synthetic fiber in transportation such as automobiles, railway coaches and aerospace.

Jayabal et al [5] studied the mechanical behavior, effect of fibre parameters and effect of glass
hybridization on coir-polyester composites. The points indicated by Delft University report was
achieved after seven years. The mechanical behavior of Coir-Polyester composites was
successfully improved by their continuous research in the year 2010 and 2011.
Donald Voet et al [6] pointed out the need of R&D efforts in the field of coir fiber composites
product innovation and diversification especially to make coir composites. There are also several
other exciting opportunities for coir composites as in the field of automobile components,
especially for its interiors, and for products like crates, pallets, corrugated containers etc. in the
packaging industry, and many other household and restaurant articles like trays and plates.
However it is their mechanical reliability, durability, recycle ability, end of the life disposability
and above all cost effectiveness are the factors that determines the preference for use of coir
composites.

Monteiro et al [7] evaluated structural characteristics and mechanical properties of coir fiber-
polyester composites. They analyzed variation of the flexural strength with the mass fraction of
coir fibers and molding pressure. The results obtained for flexural strength allowed the comparison
of the technical performance of the composites with other conventional materials.

Sapuan et al [8] studied the tensile and flexural strengths of coconut spathe and spathe-fiber
reinforced epoxy composites and accessed the possibility of using it as a new material in
engineering applications. Samples were fabricated by the hand layup process (30:70 fiber and
matrix ratio by weight) and the properties evaluated using the INSTRON Material Test System.
Tensile and flexural strengths for the coconut spathe-fiber reinforced composite laminates ranged
from 7.9 to 11.6 MPa and from 25.6 to67.2 MPa respectively.

G.ramkrishna et al [9] investigated that the Tensile strength increases with increase in
percentage of fiber content up to 4% by volume. After that if coconut fiber percentage is still
increased than the tensile strength will reduce significantly.

Calado et al [10] gave the overview of impact energy of coir fiber. He said that Coir fibers can
absorb more impact energy compare to Plain concrete and it has a high energy absorption
capability in comparison with other fibers.

Satyanarayana et al [11] has been observed that it becomes evident that newer composites using
abundantly available natural fibers are on the horizon, thus bringing new trends in composite
materials. They reported detailed study of physical, chemical and mechanical properties of some
of the natural fibers.

Summary
From the above references and paper presented we observe that various tests and studies have been
conducted on natural fibres including coir fibres. Researches and papers on tests such as
mechanical, tribological, physical, chemical etc. have been published and satisfactory results have
been achieved. Tests on coir fibres have also been done. Furthermore studies and researches can
be performed by combining different matrix and reinforcement with different ratios to improve
characteristics of natural composites
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property evaluation of natural fiber coir composite, journal of materials
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composites International journal of engineering science and innovative technology
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595, 2008
[8] Sapuan, S.M., Zan, M.N.M., Zainudin, E.S. and PrithviRaj Arora. Tensile and
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treatment on the structure and morphology of coir fibers, Journal of Materials
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