Study of the Physical, Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Banana Fiber Reinforced HDPE Composites

Abstract

Natural fiber reinforced composite materials are replacing the conventional materials, owing to their excellent physical, mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties. Also they increase biodegradability, reduce cost and decrease environmental pollution and hazards. In this study, obsolete high density polyethylene (HDPE) has used as polymer matrix and banana fiber as reinforcement material. Composites (5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of fiber contents) were made by hot press molding method by using Paul-Otto Weber Hydraulic press machine. The physical, mechanical and thermal properties of banana fiber-HDPE composites were studied and investigated the increment or decrement nature of different properties due to addition of banana fiber in BF-HDPE composites. The bulk density of composites increased with the increase wt. (%) of fiber content in composites. Water absorption ability of banana fiber and BF-HDPE composites also increased with the increase of wt. (%) of fiber content in composites and with socking time. Tensile strength of the BF-HDPE composites increased with the increase of fiber content in both cases (continuous aligned fiber orientation and continuous bidirectional fiber orientation). Moreover, the tensile strength of BF-HDPE composites with continuous aligned fiber orientation was greater than that of continuous bidirectional fiber orientation. At first, the flexural strength increased for 5% BF-HDPE composites then the value decreased for other higher compositions. The flexural strength of continuous aligned fiber orientation was slightly greater than that of continuous bidirectional fiber orientation and composite with 5% banana fiber showed better flexural properties than others. Leeb's rebound hardness decreased with the increase of fiber addition.

Optimization of alkali-treated banana pseudo-stem fiber/PBAT/PLA bio-composite for packaging application using response surface methodology

“…The annual production of BPS is 120 to 165 t per hectare (Pei et al 2014). BPS is an agricultural waste that is available in large quantities, low in price, and biodegradable (Shimizu et al 2018;Neher et al 2020). BPS can be utilized in different fields, such as paper making, rope making, and production of bags and biofuels (Alarcón and Marzocchi 2015;Othman et al 2020;Pan et al 2020).…”

“…The utilization of higher cellulosic content of BPSF to substitute for conventionally materials is promising for composite preparation (Khan et al 2013;Ponni et al 2020). The relatively high tensile index and tensile resistance of BPS fiber indicate that these wastes can be used as promising filling materials for reinforcing polymer composites (Alarcón and Marzocchi 2015;Neher et al 2020). Moreover, the influence of chemical treatment on the properties of BPSF/coir hybrid fiber reinforced maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP)/low-density polyethylene (LDPE) composites has been examined for food packaging applications (Khan et al 2013).…”

Evaluation of the Physico-Mechanical Characteristics of Composites using Banana Fiber: In-Depth Review Findings

“…The physical and chemical behavior of freshly created composites affects their viability for commercial use [28]. [29]. The examples were created utilizing the hot press molding process on Paul-Otto Weber hydraulic press equipment with fiber contents of 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 weight percent.…”

Mechanical properties evaluation of banana fibre reinforced polymer Composites: A review

“…The results of the Mahesh, D. [40], experiment that, the 50 percent banana fibre and 50 percent polypropylene composite materials can bear higher loads than the other combinations and can be utilised as an alternative to traditional fiber-reinforced polymer composites. Neher employed [41] obsolete high-density polyethylene (HDPE) as the polymer matrix and banana fibre as the reinforcement material in this investigation and he discovered that bulk density and tensile strength grew by wt.% while flexural strength declined. Flexural strength increased for 5 wt.% BF-HDPE composites at first, but then decreased for other higher compositions.…”