Title: Assessment of mechanical and morphological characteristics in polymer matrix composites reinforced with paddy pulp and pineapple leaf fibres

Authors: V. Vinoth; S. Sathiyamurthy; S. Jayabal; S. Saravanakumar; J. Prabhakaran

Addresses: Department of Automobile Engineering, Easwari Engineering College, Chennai, Tamilnadu, 600 089, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Easwari Engineering College, Chennai, Tamilnadu, 600 089, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government College of Engineering, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, 613 402, India ' Department of Automobile Engineering, Easwari Engineering College, Chennai, Tamilnadu, 600 089, India ' Department of Ocean Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Tamilnadu, 600 036, India

Abstract: In recent years, natural fibre composites have fascinated substantial attention as potential structural materials. Natural fibres such as jute, hemp, sisal, areca, coir, flax, Roselle, and banana have been popular due to their low cost, lightweight, high specific modulus, renewability, and biodegradability. Natural fibre composite can be a very cost-effective material, especially for the building, construction, and automotive sectors. The present study of the hybrid composites is made of natural fibres, namely paddy pulp and pineapple leaf fibres keeping this view the present work has been undertaken to develop a polymer matrix composite. The composites were created using various weight ratios of different types of fibres. The composite plate was fabricated by a compression moulding machine with a dimension of (300 × 300 × 3) mm. The mechanical properties of this hybrid composite are determined by testing the tensile, impact, and flexural loads using a universal testing machine (UTM). Morphological analysis is done using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Finally, the numerical analysis was performed using the ANSYS software. However, it is found that hybrid composites have better strength as compared to other fibre composites.

Keywords: paddy pulp; pineapple leaf fibre; polyester resin; mechanical properties; universal testing machine; UTM; scanning electron microscope; SEM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMATEI.2024.144250

International Journal of Materials Engineering Innovation, 2024 Vol.15 No.4, pp.365 - 377

Received: 23 Dec 2023
Accepted: 01 Feb 2024
Published online: 03 Feb 2025 *

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