Fabrication and Mechanical Properties of Hybrid Natural Composite

Abstract

In recent years, natural composite materials have replaced many conventional ones, such as metals and synthetic resin composites in many applications. This is due to the advantage of hybrid natural composite over the conventional materials. The natural composites are made up of both reinforcement and matrix materials which are obtained by the natural resources. Natural fibers reinforcement are strong, light weight, renewable, cheap, completely or partially recyclable, and biodegradable. In this work sisal and banana fibers have been used as the main reinforcing materials to increase the effectiveness of natural fibers. Cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) resin is a natural resin that can be obtained from cashew nut. CNSL is essentially a mixture of phenol extracted from the shell of the cashew nut and is a good natural alternative to chemically derived phenol.