Impact behavior of pine needle fiber/pistachio shell filler based epoxy composite

Abstract

Abstract Natural filler/fiber based composites are material focusing on the use of natural reinforcement material for fabrication process. In present research two different composites are developed using (i) pine needle fiber and epoxy (ii) pistachio shell filler and epoxy. Impact strength of developed composites is studied which shows that with addition of pistachio shell filler and pine needle fibers in composites, there is increase in impact strength as compared to neat epoxy sample. In addition, hybrid composite with natural filler and pine needle fiber has shown the highest impact strength of 23.33 kJ/m2. Investigating samples further in different conditions (petrol, kerosene, water) for impact strength, research shows that there is substantial decrease in strength in comparison to the samples subjected to ambient conditions.