Injection Molding of Natural Fiber Reinforced Composites

Abstract

With increasing awareness about environmental concerns, Natural fiber composites (NFCs) have emerged as a potential replacement to traditional polymer composites, which are derived from nonrenewable resources and are nonbiodegradable. NFCs can be classified into green and partially green composites based on the polymer matrix used. NFCs have several advantages over traditional polymer composites leading to worldwide increase in their demand. In order to meet this demand, primary processing techniques should be developed exclusively for fabrication of NFCs. Injection molding process is the most extensively used process in the industry for the production of polymer composites. In this chapter, injection molding process parameters and the various issues and challenges during fabrication of NFCs using injection-molding process has been discussed.