Mechanical Behaviour of Coconut Coir Fibre Reinforced Unsaturated Polyester Composite

Abstract

With low cost, simplicity of manufacturing and the abundant availability of natural fibers have tempted the researchers to try the available fibres and to investigate their possibility of using it for the purpose of reinforcement. Since Coir fiber is renewable, eco-friendly, less weight and has good mechanical performance it is considered as one of the best alternative to Carbon fiber. In this present work the ability of coir fibre in improving the mechanical characteristic has been studied. Four specimens having different weight fractions (5%,10%,15% &20%) of coir fiber with polyester matrix is prepared and their corresponding mechanical properties has been determined. In this work the fiber is treated with Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) for attaining good fiber separation and hand- lay-up practice have been employed for composite manufacturing. To find the mechanical characteristics of composite the following tests were performed on the prepared specimens like tensile test, Flexure and hardness test. Experimental result reveals that the composite with 15% coir fiber have a maximum tensile strength of 26.5Mpa From the Experimental results it is evident that the increase in coir fiber weight fraction results in improving the mechanical properties of the composite.