Investigation on Elastic Constants of Microfibril Reinforced Poly Vinyl Chloride Composites Using Impulsive Excitation of Vibration

Abstract

The creation of tenable green composites is in high demand, due to ecologically available resources paving the way for applications to thrive in the manufacturing, aerospace, structural, and maritime industries. Hence, it is vital to understand the performance characteristics of natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites. The elastic constants of coir fiber powder-reinforced plasticized polyvinyl chloride composite are determined using impulsive excitation vibration in this study. The optimization study on the elastic constants was carried out using Box–Behnken experimental design, based on response surface methodology, having three factors of fiber content (wt.%), fiber size (μm) and chemical treatments. The results were evaluated using analysis of variance and regression analysis. Additionally, experimental and optimized results were compared, leading to error analysis. Young’s modulus of 18.2 MPa and shear modulus of 6.6 MPa were obtained for a combination of fiber content (2 wt%), fiber size (225 μm), and triethoxy (ethyl) silane treatment, which is suitable for various electrical, automotive, etc., applications.