EVALUATION OF FRACTURE TOUGHNESS BEHAVIOUR OF GLASS-BANANA FIBER REINFORCED EPOXY HYBRIDCOMPOSITES

Authors

  • Shashank T.A Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, VVCE, Mysuru –570002
  • ShivaShankar R
  • Naveen Prakash G.V

Keywords:

Banana fiber,, Glassfiber,, Epoxy resin, Hybrid composites

Abstract

The present work deal with fabrication and investigation of fracture toughness of banana reinforced with glass fiber as natural hybrid composite. Composites of different combinations with varied fiber content were prepared using hand lay-up technique using L-12 epoxyresin and K-6 hardener as reinforcing materials. Banana fiber with 15, 20, 25 and 30% were hybridized with 20, 15, 10 and 5% of glass fiber to form composites and compared with non-hybrid 35% glass and banana fiber composites. The fracture toughness (KIC) was investigated according to ASTM D5045 by single edge notch bending (SENB) technique, with SEM image confirmation. The non-hybridized 35% banana fiber showed highest KICvalue and 35% glass fiber showed the least. Whereas, the hybrid composite with fiber volume of 20% banana and 15% glass showed higher KICvalue when compared with other hybrid fractions. The results thus obtained signified the fracture toughness got improved in banana-glass hybrid composite with increased glass fiber content from 5%-15%, thus acting as a positive reinforcement in providing extra strength and smooth surface finish to the composite and at the same time the banana fiber imparted elasticity to the composite.

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Published

2021-03-27

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Section

Articles