Effect of fiber length on the mechanical properties of banana fiber – vinyl ester composites

Abstract

Abstract In the present work, the mechanical properties of banana fiber – vinyl ester composite were investigated. The stacking of the layers was accomplished by hand-lay-up techniques and composites were produced by compression molding. The effect of the layering sequence on the mechanical properties, namely tensile, flexural and impact, was analyzed and is discussed in this paper. The natural fibers were extracted and processed locally. It was observed that the hardness of the samples was influenced by an increase in banana fiber content in the composite. Thus, banana fiber composite could be considered for applications in areas where high impact strength is a requirement such as in some automobile parts.