In the present communication an effective parametric analysis on the mechanical properties (tensile and flexural strength) of bagasse fiber-reinforced vinyl ester (BFRVE) composites were conducted, and then the fabrication process parameters were optimized by using Taguchi and analysis of variance techniques. Composites plates were fabricated by Taguchi’s L18 experimental design as the function of process parameters such as fiber length, fiber content, fiber diameter, sodium hydroxide concentration and sodium hydroxide treatment duration. The optimum process parameters to obtain the maximum strength values were identified using signal-to-noise ratio calculations. Then, the results were analyzed to know the percentage contribution of each fabrication process parameter on the tensile and the flexural strength using analysis of variance. A multivariable non-linear regression model was developed to predict the strength values and compared with experimental strength values. The developed models were validated by 10 additional experimental results using the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). The results reveal that the fiber content (40 wt%) is the most significant factor influencing the tensile and flexural strength. An acceptable level of mean absolute percentage errors (8.57% for tensile strength and 9.13% for flexural strength) was obtained in both cases. Finally, the results indicate that this model can be used efficiently for prediction of tensile and flexural strength of BFRVE composites without any further experiments.

Abstract The present study describes the preparation of aligned unidirectional bagasse fiber-reinforced vinyl ester (BFRVE) composites and their mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural, shear and impact strength. Composites were prepared by a hand lay-up technique developed in our laboratory with the help of a hot press. Mechanical properties were obtained for different fiber contents by varying the number of layers. The obtained tensile property values were compared with the theoretical results. The results show that the tensile strength increased linearly up to 44 wt% and then dropped. However, the tensile modulus increased linearly from 17 wt% to 60 wt%. In the case of flexural properties, the flexural strength increased up to 53 wt% and started to decrease. However, the flexural modulus also increased linearly up to 60 wt%. The impact strength values were higher than the matrix materials for all the specimens. The short beam shear strength values were also increased up to 53 wt% and then dropped. The modified Bowyer and Bader (MBB) model followed by the Hirsch model shows a very good agreement with experimental results in both tensile strength and modulus.

In this paper, an attempt was made to use Prosopis juliflora fibres (PJFs) as a reinforcing agent for phenol formaldehyde (PF) composites. Mechanical properties of the composites were studied for various fibre aspect ratios (FAR) and fibre loadings (FL). A scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to study the fractured surface of the composites. The peak range of mechanical properties was identified for composites with a FAR of 136 and fibre loading of 23.53 wt%. This study shows that the optimum FAR and fibre loading for PJFs were found to be 136 and 23.53 wt% in order to achieve good reinforcement with better mechanical properties in the PF resin matrix. Experimental results were observed to be in very good agreement with the theoretical.

In this study, Wood Dust (WD)/Phenol Formaldehyde (PF) and Coir Pith (CP)/PF composites were hybridized with the Prosopis Juliflora Fiber (PJF) to obtain the hybrid composites. Composites were prepared by hand moulding technique. The weight percentage of particles and fibers are fixed in the ratio of 1:1. Mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural and impact strengths were evaluated as a function of the particle and fiber loadings. The results show that the properties of both the WD and CP composites obviously improved by the addition of the PJF. The improvement in WD/PF composites was obviously higher than the CP/PF composites for all loadings. The WD/PJF/PF hybrid composites exhibited better tensile (strength of 48.9 MPA and modulus of 1262.1 MPa, respectively), flexural (strength of 55.4 MPa and modulus of 1344.3 MPa, respectively), and impact properties (1.32 KJ/m2).Â

In this paper, the Box-Behnken (BB) • The optimal levels of fabrication process parameters were identified using response surface graph and models.