Chapter 3 Study of Mechanical Characteristics of Banana and Jute Fiber Reinforced Polyester Composites G. L. Easwara Prasad, B. E. Megha, and B. S. Keerthi Gowda Abstract Composite materials are gaining utmost prominence in many fields of application, nowadays, due to their surpassing traits have acquired relevance in various spheres of Engineering. The present study consists of assessment of the mechanical characteristics of Banana and Jute Fiber reinforced Polyester Composites. Banana and Jute Fiber reinforced Polyester Composites were fabricated using banana fibers of length 10 mm and jute fibers of length 10 mm as reinforcements and polyester resin as matrix respectively. Thickness of composite panels varied from 3 to 5 mm and fiber volume fractions were adopted as 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% respectively. It is observed that Jute Fiber reinforced Polyester Composites exhibit higher values of tensile and flexural strength compared to Banana Fiber reinforced Polyester Composites. However, both Banana and Jute Fiber reinforced Polyester Composites revealed optimum tensile and flexural strength at a fiber volume fraction of 25% and 20% respectively. Keywords Composites · Matrix · Reinforcement · Banana Fiber · JuteFiber · Polyester 3.1 Introduction Fiber-reinforced polymer composites have gained significance in many fields of their applications due to their remarkable qualities, such as high strength, durability and resistance to extreme atmospheric conditions [1–14]. Composites are the materials fabricated by mixing two or more than two substances, in a manner that they retain their individual properties and the resulting material has remarkable, distinguished characteristics in comparision with its ingredients. The composites, mainly consists of strong and steady component which has load sustaining potentiality and is referred to as “Reinforcement”; the other weak component which plays the role of holding the reinforcement firmly is called “Matrix”. The stiffness and strength required to sustain the loads is contributed by the Reinforcement. On the other hand, the matrix contributes towards retaining the position of the reinforcement. Considerably, although the components of the composites restrain their respective mechanical and chemical properties, the resultant composite material possesses a group of characteristics, which the constituent components cannot yield individually. The fibers performing, the role of reinforcement could be naturally obtained or artificially manufactured. Synthetic fibers vastly utilised in the fabrication of Fiber reinforced Composites are carbon, glass, boron and ceramic substances [1, 2]. In the present scenario, composites have found wide application in the field of engineering and technology. The reinforcement in the composites typically consists of fibers, flakes or particulate matter such as carbon, boron, glass, metals, silicon carbide, and ceramic materials, which play a significant role in making the composites tough and robust [3–5]. Previous studies reveal that the fiber length and fiber volume fraction contribute notably to the strength acquired by the fiber reinforced composites [6].The matrix materials, primarily adopted in fabrication of composites are metals, polymers and ceramic materials. Composite materials acquired by combining naturally accessible fibers with suitable matrix components are termed as Natural Fiber Reinforced Composites. Natural Fiber Reinforced Composites are gaining importance and are being utilised for a number of applications due to their availability in abundance, easy accessibility and eco-friendly nature. The counterpart G. L. Easwara Prasad ( ) MITE (VTU), Moodabidre, India B. E.Megha Department of Civil Engineering, MIT (VTU), Mysore, India B. S. Keerthi Gowda Centre for PG VTU Studies, Mysore, India © The Society for Experimental Mechanics, Inc. 2019 P. R. Thakre et al. (eds.), Mechanics of Composite, Hybrid and Multifunctional Materials, Volume 5, Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95510-0_3 23
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