Mechanical Properties and Delamination Factor Evaluation of Cellulose (Nettle) Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites using RSM

Abstract

This paper discusses on fabrication, testing and evaluation of delamination factor of nettle fiber based composites for low duty applications. The randomly oriented nettle fibers were used to fabricate the biocomposite by conventional hand lap up technique. Epoxy and Nettle based composite plates were developed by varying fiber weight percentage from 5% to 25%. The flexural, tensile, impact, chemical resistance and water absorption rate of developed nettle fiber based biocomposite were examined for different fiber weight fractions in the randomly oriented patterns as a unique and innovative attempt. During the investigation, flexural strength and tensile strength were improved up to 20 wt% of fiber addition and then it was decreased. This resulted in a continuous rise in impact strength with an enhancement in fiber wt. %. The influence of fiber weight percentage on water absorption and chemical resistance of fabricated composite was examined in different environments. The result showed that the nettle fibers can be used as an essential reinforcing material to design and fabricate mechanical and structural members for low duty application. The chemical behavior of nettle based composite was studied by the FTIR spectroscopy method and the presence of chemical functional group was confirmed. The drilling behavior of developed nettle/SiC/epoxy hybrid composites was evaluated by consider cutting process parameters like feed rate (0.125, 0.212 and 0.3 mm/rev), spindle speed (400, 600, 800 rev/min) and drill diameter (4, 6, 8 mm). Analysis of variance was used in designing experiments for the current investigation. Feed rate was found to be a very impressive factor in influencing the delamination factor.