Evaluation of Mechanical Properties of Coconut Coir Fiber Reinforced Polymer Matrix Composites

Abstract

Fiber-reinforced polymer composites have played a dominant role for a longtime in a variety of applications for their high specific strength and modulus. The fiber which serves as a reinforcement in reinforced plastics may be synthetic or natural. Past studies show that only synthetic fibers such as glass, carbon etc., have been used in fiber-reinforced plastics. Although glass and other synthetic fiber-reinforced plastics possess high specific strength, their fields of application are very limited because of their inherent higher cost of production. An attempt has been made to utilize the coir, as natural fiber abundantly available in India. Natural fibers are not only strong and lightweight but also relatively very cheap. The present work describes the development and characterization of a new set of natural fiber based polyester composites consisting of coir as reinforcement and epoxy resin. Coir composites are developed and their mechanical properties are evaluated, at five different volume fractions and tests were carried out and the results were presented. Experimental results showed tensile, static and Dynamic properties of the composites are greatly influenced by increasing the percentage of reinforcement, and indicate coir can be used as potential reinforcing material for many structural and non-structural applications.