Mechanical and fracture study of hybrid natural fiber reinforced composite – Coir and sugarcane leaf sheath

Assessment on hybrid jute/coir fibers reinforced polyester composite with hybrid fillers under different environmental conditions

“…Unsaturated polyester resin of 1.2 g/cm 3 , methyl ethyl ketone peroxides (MEKP) as a catalyst and cobalt naphthenate (accelerator) were purchased from Aiswarya polymers, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India. For 100 g of resin, 1.5 mL of methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP) and 1 ml cobalt naphthenate were taken for room temperature curing.…”

“…They were purchased from Ponmani Chemicals, Madurai, Tamilnadu India. MMT K10 (Montmorillonite) of 1.9 g/cm 3 and nanoclay with surface area of 220 -270 m 2 /g were added to strengthen the matrix supplied by Sigma-Aldrich, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Eggshell powder was used as another filler to enhance the strength of the matrix.…”

“…Hybridization of fiber ratio was 1:1 and constantly 20 wt.% of fiber mats used in the all combinations and the filler mixed in the proportion of all combinations are 3 wt.%. because of reinforced composites showed a decrease in strength at filler loadings of greater than 3% [34,35].…”

“…Imbibe in them the natural fiber reinforced polymer composites (NFRC) are used to replace the man-made fiber reinforced composites for different applications due its desirable properties like low density and good mechanical strength [1,2]. All these customer attractive properties enforce the usage of natural fiber composites in various applications such as aircraft, marine and automotive, construction and packaging industries [3]. However, the predominant drawbacks such as poor compatibility between the fiber and matrix and high moisture absorption in NFRPCs overcome by the suitable chemical treatment techniques and hybridization [4][5][6][7][8].…”

Tribological Analysis of Jute/Coir Polyester Composites Filled with Eggshell Powder (ESP) or Nanoclay (NC) Using Grey Rational Method

“…In general terms, introduction of natural fibers, such as, e.g., kenaf [40], jute [41], or coir [42], does improve the wear characteristics of unsaturated polyester resins. However, in a specific case, the higher degree of complication involved in the fabrication of hybrids with two different fibers and other fillers would be compensated in another sense by the possible exploitation of waste or low value items from other very diffuse productive systems (examples can be coconut and sugarcane [43]) in the field of friction-exposed materials. The success of the operation appears so far limited to low speeds, of less than 1 m/s, and loads not exceeding a few tens of Newtons, while long sliding distances do not appear to represent an issue.…”