Challenges on machining characteristics of natural fiber-reinforced composites – A review

Abstract

The emerging “green” economy is based on energy efficiency, renewable food stocks in polymeric products, industrial processes that reduce carbon emissions, and recyclable materials. Natural fiber is a type of renewable source and a new generation of reinforcements and integrators for polymer-based materials. Because of its advantages over synthetic fibers, the use of natural fibers as reinforcements in composite materials has become important in recent years. To meet certain design criteria, natural fiber-reinforced composites impose certain secondary operations during assembly. Limited literature is available only in connection with the processing of natural fiber-reinforced composites. This paper analyzes a comprehensive review of the natural fiber-reinforced composite processing literature along with the challenges during processing.