An investigation has been carried out to make use of coir, a natural fibre abundantly available in India. Coir-polyester composites were prepared and their mechanical and machinability characteristics were studied. The short coir-fibre-reinforced composites exhibited the tensile, flexural and impact strength of 16⋅1709 MPa, 29⋅2611 MPa and 46⋅1740 J/m, respectively. The regression equations were developed and optimized for studying drilling characteristics of coir-polyester composites using the Taguchi approach. A drill bit diameter of 6 mm, spindle speed of 600 rpm and feed rate of 0⋅3 mm/rev gave the minimum value of thrust force, torque and tool wear in drilling analysis.

The green husk coir fibres were treated with different levels of soaking time and concentration of alkali solution. As a result of alkali treatment, the surface modifications were done on the fibre surface and were studied using scanning electron micrographs. The coir-polyester composites were fabricated using hand lay up process and the mechanical properties (tensile, flexural and impact strength) were evaluated as per ASTM standards. The effect of soaking time and concentration of NaOH solution were studied based on evaluated values of mechanical properties to find out optimum fibre treatment parameters.

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