Hybrid Polymer Composite using vinyl ester with banana and tamarind fibre.

Introduction

Today’s world is in much need of innovations in quality of materials

to prevent material failures in components. To fulfil that a special
type of materials known as composite materials are introduced. The
composite materials have improved in properties when compared to
conventional materials.

A composite material is a material made from two or more constituent

materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties
that, when combined, produce a material with characteristics different
from the individual components. Composite materials are generally
used for buildings, boat hulls, swimming pool panels, racing car
bodies, shower stalls, bathtubs, storage tanks. The most advanced
examples perform routinely on spacecraft and aircraft in demanding
environments.[8]

composite material properties

High strength to weight ratio (low density high tensile

strength)!
High creep resistance
Impact loads or vibration Some composites can have much
higher wear resistance than metals.
Corrosion resistance
Anisotropic –bi-directional properties can be design
advantage (i.e. airplane wing)

Classification

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 Hybrid Polymer Composite using vinyl ester with banana and tamarind fibre.

1.Metal matrix composites.

2.Ceramic matrix composites.

3.Polymer matrix composites.

Metal Matrix Composite: (MMC) is a material consisting of a

metallic matrix combined with a ceramic (oxides, carbides) or
metallic (lead, tungsten, molybdenum) dispersed phase.

Metal matrix: Al, Ti, Mg, Fe, Cu, Ni

Example: Al-SiC (silicon carbide)
Example: Al-Al2O3 (aluminium oxide)
High strength, high stiffness, abrasion resistance, dimensional
stability, high temperature and toughness.

Ceramic matrix composites:

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 Hybrid Polymer Composite using vinyl ester with banana and tamarind fibre.

Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) is a material consisting of

a ceramic matrix combined with a ceramic (oxides,
carbides) dispersed phase.
Ceramic Matrix Composites are designed to improve toughness of
conventional ceramics, the main disadvantage of which is brittleness.
composites are produced by conventional ceramic processes from an
oxide (alumina) or non-oxide (silicon carbide) ceramic matrix
reinforced by whiskers of silicon carbide (SiC), titanium boride
(TiB2), aluminium nitride (AlN), zirconium oxide (ZrO2) and
other ceramic fibres.

Polymer matrix composites (PMC) is the material consisting of a

polymer (resin) matrix combined with a fibrous reinforcing dispersed
phase. Polymer Matrix Composites are very popular due to their low
cost and simple in fabrication methods.

There are two basic categories of polymer matrices:

-Thermoplastics
-Thermosetting plastics
Roughly 95% of the composite market uses thermosetting plastics
Thermoplastics: PE, Nylon, PS, PP, PC, PVC.
Thermosetting: Epoxy, polyester, phenolics.

Advantages :

 High tensile strength;

 High stiffness;
 High Fracture Toughness;
 Good abrasion resistance;
 Good puncture resistance;
 Good corrosion resistance;
 Low cost.

Disadvantages :
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 Hybrid Polymer Composite using vinyl ester with banana and tamarind fibre.

 Low thermal resistance;

 High coefficient of thermal expansion.

Applications
Polymer Matrix Composites (PMC) are used for manufacturing:
secondary load-bearing aerospace structures, boat bodies, canoes,
kayaks, automotive parts, radio controlled vehicles, sport goods (golf
clubs, skis, tennis racquets, fishing rods), bullet-proof vests and other
armor parts, brake and clutch linings.

Fibre-reinforced Composites:

Fibres increase the modulus of the matrix material.

Fibres increase the strength of the matrix material.
Fibres increase the toughness of the matrix material.

Examples:
1.sports equipment, carbon fibres in a thermosetting polymer matrix.
2.cars and some automobiles, composites made of glass fibres in a
thermosetting matrix.
3.Aerospace vehicles such as Airplane, Missile, shuttle ,composites
4.made of carbon fibres in a thermosetting matrix
Boats, ships

In general view, the properties of the polymers are inadequate to

many applications, due to their low strength and stiffness compared to
Metal and Ceramic matrix phases. There raises a need of introducing
new reinforcements with the polymers to improve strength. Thus,
there evolved the development of this type of composite materials.

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 Hybrid Polymer Composite using vinyl ester with banana and tamarind fibre.

LITERATURE SURVEY:
Merlini et al. [1] (2011) have studied the effect surface treatment on
the chemical properties of banana fiber and reported that treated
banana fiber give higher shear interfacial stress and tensile strength
when compared with the untreated fiber.

Dhieb et al. [2] (2011) have studied about the surface and sub-
surface degradation of unidirectional carbon fiber and have given
many conclusion such as under sliding in demineralized water, the
most simple degradation was detected on sliding in anti-parallel
direction.

Shankar et al. [3] [Vol. 1, 2013]have studied and reported that the
ultimate tensile strength value maximum at 15% and then decreases
with increasing in fiber starting from 15% to 20%. They also reported
that the flexural strength value decreasing from 5% to 10% (87.31
MPa) and after that the value increased from fiber

Sumaila et al. [4] (2013), have investigated the influence of fiber

length on the mechanical and physical properties of nonwoven short
banana, random oriented fiber and epoxy composite and they
described that the tensile properties and percentage elongation of
the composite attained a maximum in composite fabricated from 15
mm fiber B. TECH. THESIS 2014 7 length. They have also reported
that the impact energy whereas the compressive strength increases
decreased with increasing fiber length, also the mean flexural
properties of the composite increased with increasing in fiber length
up to 25mm. The banana fibers characteristic depending on the
variation of diameter, mechanical characteristic and the effects of
the stresses performing on the fracture morphology. The stress-
strain curves for changed strain rates were found and fractured
surfaces were inspected by SEM [5].

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 Hybrid Polymer Composite using vinyl ester with banana and tamarind fibre.

Pothan et al. [5] (1997), have investigated on the influence of fiber

content and length on short banana fiber reinforced polyester
composite material.

Laban et al. [6] (2001), has studied on the physical and mechanical
behavior of banana fiber reinforced polymer composite and noticed
that kraft mashed banana fiber material has better flexural strength.
The tensile strength is detected maximum at 30 mm fiber length
whereas the impact strength is noticed maximum at 40 mm length of
fiber. Consolidation of 40% untreated banana fibers gives 20% rise in
the tensile strength and 34% rise in impact strength.

Prasanna and Subbaiah [7]( 2001), reported that composites

material having 20% treated fiber loading possess maximum values
for above-mentioned properties than untreated composites, 10%
and also 30% treated fibers composites. The interfacial area having
main role in influential the strength of polymer material since fiber
procedures a separate interface with the matrix. The effects of this
study uncovered that short zig-zag fiber composites with great
rigidity and element mechanical properties might be effectively
ready utilizing banana fiber as reinforcement in a polyurethane
matrix inferred from castor oil. The treated banana fiber
demonstrated higher shear stress and tensile strength when
contrasted with the untreated fiber, showing a solid association
between the treated strands and the polyurethane matrix [1 banana
fiber reinforced with epoxy composite. Many studied and compared
of effect of treated and untreated banana fiber reinforced with
thermoplastic and thermosetting polymer [15-19].

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 Hybrid Polymer Composite using vinyl ester with banana and tamarind fibre.

To this end, the current work has undertaken with the objectives to
investigate the mechanical properties of banana fiber based epoxy
composites
Objectives :

a) The success of combining vegetable natural fibers with polymer

matrices results in the

b) Improvement of mechanical properties of the composite

compared with the matrix material.

c) These fillers are cheap and non toxic can be obtain from
renewable source and are easily recyclable.
d) Fabrication of a new class polymer based hybrid composites
reinforced with oriented banana fibres.
e ) Evaluation of mechanical properties such as tensile strength, for
these composites.
f ) To study the influence of fibre parameters such as fibre and fibre
orientation on the mechanical behaviour of the composites.

METHODOLOGY

The orientation for reinforcement of the fibres was selected on the

basis of fibre lengths. Since, the properties of the material vary with
the fibre length, this methodology was chosen. The actual variation
of the properties of the composite materials was not yet determined.
So, we made a procedure to use two types of fibres .i.e., with smaller
fibre length and with the longer fibre length along with different
weight fractions of fibre.

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 Hybrid Polymer Composite using vinyl ester with banana and tamarind fibre.

Materials Used
Resins: vinyl ester resin.
Fibres: Natural fibres(Banana).

Fabrication methods
Compression moulding technique , Hand layup process.
Hand lay-up technique

Hand lay-up technique is the simplest method of composite

processing. The infrastructural requirement for this method is also
minimal. The processing steps are quite simple. First of all, a release
gel is sprayed on the mould surface to avoid the sticking of polymer
to the surface. Thin plastic sheets are used at the top and bottom of the
mould plate to get good surface finish of the product. Reinforcement
in the form of woven mats or chopped strand mats are cut as per the
mould size and placed at the surface of mould after perspex sheet.
Then thermosetting polymer in liquid form is mixed thoroughly in

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 Hybrid Polymer Composite using vinyl ester with banana and tamarind fibre.

suitable proportion with a prescribed hardner (curing agent) and

poured onto the surface of mat already placed in the mould. The
polymer is uniformly spread with the help of brush. Second layer of
mat is then placed on the polymer surface and a roller is moved with a
mild pressure on the mat-polymer layer to remove any air trapped as
well as the excess polymer present. The process is repeated for each
layer of polymer and mat, till the required layers are stacked. After
placing the plastic sheet, release gel is sprayed on the inner surface of
the top mould plate which is then kept on the stacked layers and the
pressure is applied. After curing either at room temperature or at some
specific temperature, mould is opened and the developed composite
part is taken out and further processed. The schematic of hand lay-up
is shown in figure 1. The time of curing depends on type of polymer
used for composite processing. For example, for epoxy based system,
normal curing time at room temperature is 24-48 hours. This method
is mainly suitable for thermosetting polymer based composites.
Capital and infrastructural requirement is less as compared to other
methods. Production rate is less and high volume fraction of
reinforcement is difficult to achieve in the processed composites.
Hand lay-up method finds application in many areas like aircraft
components, automotive parts, boat hulls, diase board, deck etc.
Generally, the materials used to develop composites through hand
lay-up method are given in table 1.

Table 1 Raw materials used in hand lay-up method

Materials used
Matrix Vinyl Ester
Reinforcement Natural Plant Fibres (Banana )

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 Hybrid Polymer Composite using vinyl ester with banana and tamarind fibre.

TESTING METHODS

TENSILE TEST :The tensile testing provides us the values for Peak
load, Ultimate tensile stress, and the percentage of elongation for the
materials.

IMPACT TEST :The purpose of impact testing is to measure an

object’s ability to resist high-rate loading.

HARDNESS TEST : Hardness test measures the ability to oppose

to indentation, which is obtained by measuring the stable depth of
the indentation.
WATER ABSORPTION TEST : It is used to determine the amount
of water absorbed under specified conditions.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES:

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 Hybrid Polymer Composite using vinyl ester with banana and tamarind fibre.

Thus, the expected result for the Impact resistance values and water
absorption properties are really good. Due to treated fibres with alkali
substances, it is found that the tensile properties are good. Since, the
vinyl ester resin is a non- corrosive material they can be used to
replace the materials in the marine applications, which require Higher
Impact resistance.

REFERENCES:

1. Merlini C., Soldi V. , Barra G. M. O., Influence of Fiber Surface

Treatment and Length on Physico-Chemical Properties of Short
Random Banana Fiber-Reinforced Castor Oil Polyurethane
Composites, Polymer Testing, 30 (2011), pp. 833–840.

2. Dhieb H., Buijnsters J. G., Eddoumy F., Vázquez L., Celis J.P.,
Surface and Sub-Surface Degradation of Unidirectional Carbon Fiber
Reinforced Epoxy Composites Under Dry and Wet Reciprocating
Sliding, Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 55
(2013), pp. 53–62.

3. Shankar P. S., Reddy K.T., Sekhar V. C., Mechanical Performance

and Analysis of Banana Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites,
International Journal of Recent Trends in Mechanical Engineering,
Vol. 1, 2013, pp.1-10.

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 Hybrid Polymer Composite using vinyl ester with banana and tamarind fibre.

4. Sumaila M., Amber I., Bawa M., Effect of Fiber Length on the
Physical and Mechanical Properties of Random Oriented, Nonwoven
Short banana (Musa Balbisiana) Fiber/Epoxy Composite, Asian
Journal of Natural & Applied Sciences, 2 (2013), pp. 39-49.

5. Pothan L. A, Thomas S., Neelakantan N. R., Short Banana Fiber

Reinforced Polyester Composites: Mechanical, Failure and Aging
Characteristics, Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites,
16(1997), pp. 744-765.

6. Laban B. G., Corbiere-Nicollier T., Leterrier Y., Lundquist L.,

Manson J. -A. E., Jolliet O., Life Cycle Assessment of Biofibers
Replacing Glass Fibers as Reinforcement in plastics, Resources
Convertion and Recycling, 33(2001), pp. 267-287.

7. Prasanna G. V., Subbaiah, K. V., Modification, Flexural, Impact,

Compressive Properties & Chemical Resistance of Natural Fibers
Reinforced Blend Composites, Malaysian Polymer Journal, 8 (2013),
pp. 38-44.

8.Introduction to Composite Material. Available from:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323498078_Introduction_to
_Composite_Material [accessed Nov 22 2018].

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 Hybrid Polymer Composite using vinyl ester with banana and tamarind fibre.

9. Journal of Advance Engineering and Research Development

(IJAERD) Volume 4, Issue 10, October-2017, e-ISSN: 2348 - 4470,
print-ISSN: 2348-6406

10. International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology

(IJETT) – Volume 9 Number 8 - Mar 2014

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