DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF TREATED PALF-SISAL FIBER REINFORCED EPOXY COMPOSITES

Abstract

Abstract The present work investigates the influence of mechanical and physical properties of Epoxy composites by reinforcing SISAL- PALF fiber at different loadings (00:50, 10:40, 20:30, 30:20 wt.% of fiber). The fiber was first treated with 0.5 M NaOH solution at a room temperature for 1 hr. It improved the surface morphology and modified the mechanical properties of the fiber reinforcements were used for composite development through the hand layup molding technique and the samples were subjected to mechanical and physical properties tests in accordance with standards. Analysis of the results revealed that tensile, flexural, hardness, morphology, and hydrophobicity of the developed hybrid composites were improved. The flexural strength of composites from T-1(00:50) to T-4(30:20) were enhanced by 32%. Young's modulus and ultimate tensile strength were increased by 34% and 43%, respectively. Thereby, a blend of these by-products could potentially be used to develop prosthesis application.