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Comparative Study on Mechanical Properties of Banana and Rattan Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Md. Shariful Islam*
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Khulna University of Engineering & Technology, Khulna, Bangladesh

Syed Azmy
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Khulna University of Engineering & Technology, Khulna, Bangladesh

Abdullah Almamun
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Khulna University of Engineering & Technology, Khulna, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

In this paper, the mechanical properties of banana and rattan fiber reinforced epoxy composite are investigated. Towards that, banana and rattan fiber are extracted and with this extracted fiber, unidirectional banana and rattan fiber composite are manufactured by using hand lay-up process. Tensile and flexural strengths are considered to compare their mechanical properties. It is found that, the tensile strength of banana fiber composite is 2.57 times higher than the rattan fiber composite. But, the flexural strength of banana and rattan fiber composite is comparable.

Keywords: Banana fiber, Rattan fiber, Natural fiber composite, Tensile strength, Flexural strength

Location: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Khulna University of Engineering & Technology, Khulna, Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Comparative study

Commodity: Banana

Objectives:

Therefore, the specialty of this study is to explore new sources of natural fiber. Rattan, a plant abundantly available in Bangladesh or other Indian subcontinental country is investigated in this paper for making natural fiber composite. The mechanical properties of rattan fiber composites are compared with banana fiber composites for possible structural application such as ceiling sheets, partitioning board,s and wall or floor tiles.

Methodology:

1 Banana Fiber Extraction Process The banana fiber extraction from the banana plant required certain care to avoid damage. In the present experimental examination, initially the banana plant sections (a)) are cut from the main stem of the plant (b)) and then rolled lightly to remove the excess moisture. The process of obtaining natural fiber from rolled plant stem is known as Retting. Retting is the most widely practiced method which is performed by submerging bundles of stalks in water. The banana plant sections are submerged into water for 15 days to get fibers from it. The cleaned fibers are then treated with 15% NaOH solution in room temperature. A study by Venkateshwaran and Elayaperumal found that 15% NaOH solution gives better fiber compared to other percentage of NaOH.

3 Material System Dry banana and rattan fiber fabric are used as reinforcement with Epoxy Resin as matrix material. The extracted fiber is stitched with a swing machine to make the fabric as shown in Fig. 3. Special care is taken during stitching so that it does not damage the fiber. The hardener is mixed with the resin at a ratio (weight) of 1:10 as recommended by the manufacturer.

4 Manufacturing Process The banana and rattan fiber based epoxy composite are fabricated using hand lay- up process. Hand lay-up method is the simplest method of composite manufacturing. A schematic diagram of hand lay-up process. First of all, a mold release is applied on the mold surface to avoid the sticking of polymer to the surface. Thin plastic paper is used at the top and bottom of the mold plate to get good surface finish of the product. Banana and rattan fiber fabrics are cut as per the mold plate size and placed at the surface of the mold plate. Then the epoxy resin mixed with prescribed hardener poured onto the surface of dry fabric already placed in the mold. The polymer is uniformly spread by the help of a brush. A roller is moved with a mild pressure on the fabric-polymer layer to remove any air trapped. A similar process is repeated for each layer of polymer and fabric, till the required layers are stacked. After placing the plastic sheet, mold release is applied on the inner surface of the top mold plate which is then kept on the stacked layers and the pressure is applied. After curing at room temperature for 24 hours, mold is opened and the manufactured composite laminate is taken out and further cut into strips for mechanical testing. A manufactured rattan fiber laminate by hand layup process.

5 Tensile Tests Tensile tests are performed on both banana and rattan fiber reinforced epoxy composites. Total 10 samples are prepared (5 for banana fiber and 5 for rattan fiber composite) for tensile test following ASTM D3039 standard. The specimen dimensions are: length 250 mm, width 26:8 mm and thickness 3:3 mm. Tensile specimens were loaded to Universal Testing Machine (UTM) machine with a loading rate of 2 mm/min and performed the tests until failure. For each test, ultimate tensile stress is recorded.

6 Flexural Tests Three-point bending tests are carried out on fabricated composite specimen to determine the flexural properties of the composites. A total of 10 specimens (5 for banana fiber and 5 for rattan fiber) are prepared for the flexural tests according to ASTM D7264 standard. Specimens are cut parallel to fiber direction and dimensions are: length 150 mm, width 11.88 mm and thickness 3.3 mm. Three point bending tests are carried out on UTM. A constant span length to width ratio of 32:1 maintained for fabricated composites that resulted in a span length of 105 mm and the diameter of the roller is 18.7 mm.

Source of Information: American Journal of Engineering Research (AJER) Volume-8, Issue-2, pp-01-06 E-ISSN: 2320-0847 p-ISSN: 2320-0936

Article Link (Online Journal): www.ajer.org

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Unidirectional banana and rattan fiber reinforced epoxy composites are manufactured by using hand lay-up process in this paper with the objective of comparing their mechanical properties. Tensile and flexural strength are considered to compare their properties. The average tensile strength of banana fiber composite is found 33.46 MPa while the average tensile strength of rattan fiber composite is 13.01 MPa. The flexural strength of banana fiber is 128.47 MPa and for rattan fiber it is found to be 131.56 MPa.

Knowledge Management: Journal