Experimental investigation on bamboo fiber reinforced epoxy polymer composite materials developed through two different techniques

Abstract

In this study, the thermos-mechanical characteristics of bamboo fiber-reinforced epoxy polymer composites made by compression molding and hand lay-up techniques are discussed. A lab-scale compression molding machine was fabricated for this purpose using the scrap materials of the Central workshop of Tezpur University, India. To find the suitable NaOH concentration for bamboo fiber strip treatment, bamboo strips were treated with 5, 8, 12, and 15 wt.% NaOH solutions for 12 h in each sample. It is determined that 12 wt.% NaOH treated bamboo strips were optimal for the fabrication of composites by single fiber tensile test, single fiber pull-out test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Alkali treatment improved the interfacial strength with epoxy resin. It is seen that 8, 12, and 15 wt.% NaOH treated bamboo fiber strips become more compatible with the resin. The investigation explored the effects of mechanical and thermal characteristics of composites fabricated by the two different fabrication techniques. The thermal behavior of composites was investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The Mechanical properties of composites produced by compression molding machine are found to be better than the hand lay-up method.