Mechanical Properties of Compression Molded Banana Pseudo-stem Filled Unplasticized Polyvinyl Chloride (UPVC) Composites

Abstract

Mechanical strengths of a banana pseudo-stem (BPS) fiber and unplasticized polyvinyl chloride (UPVC) composite were evaluated to assess the possibility of using it as a new material in engineering applications. Samples were fabricated by the compression molding process with reference to the effect of filler loading. The samples were submitted to mechanical tests to measure tensile, flexural, and impact properties of the composites. The nature of adhesion between the matrix and the reinforcement and information relating the structure of mechanical properties can be obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) assessment of the composite fracture surface. The mechanical properties show that the composites did not have good adhesion between filler and matrix; on the other hand, the filler insertion improved the flexural modulus and the material rigidity.

The Flexural, Impact and Thermal Properties of Untreated Short Sugar Palm Fibre Reinforced High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) Composites

“…The result shows that adding the fibre to the composites results in increasing the modulus or stiffness of the composites. The same results were also indicated by Zainuddin's work 19 , that the flexural modulus of banana pseudo-stem fibre filled unplasticized PVC composites increased with the fibre loading.…”

Effect of fiber length and fiber content on mechanical properties of banana fiber/epoxy composite

“…The insertion of filler increases the modulus of the composite and not the tensile and flexural strength. Zainudin et al 15 studied the effect of temperature on storage modulus and damping behavior of banana fiber reinforced with UPVC. Uma Devi et al 16 studied the mechanical properties of pineapple leaf fiber reinforced with polyester composite.…”

Effect of montmorillonite nanoclay on temperature dependence mechanical properties of naturally woven coconut sheath/polyester composite

“…In recent years, the natural fiberreinforced composites have shown better properties not only on mechanical but also in transport and viscoelastic behavior in polymer matrix. [14][15][16] Natural fiberreinforced polymer composites have been replacing suitable components in different industry sectors like automobile, construction, house-holding equipments and food packaging. Hence, it is essential to study the behavior of mechanical properties of nanoclay/natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites under varying temperature condition.…”