Abstract
The use of natural fibres has found impetus in recent times in place of conventional composites. Coconut is widely grown in tropical and subtropical regions. In the present work, an attempt has been made to study the use of coconut fibre as reinforcements in epoxy-based composites. The tensile and flexural properties of the coconut fibre-reinforced composite are studied to investigate its external load-carrying capacity. The quantity of fibre content was varied from 1% by weight, 3% by weight and 5% by weight of coconut fibre. These were employed as reinforcements in epoxy resin for both alkali-treated and untreated specimens. Alkali treatment enhanced the mechanical properties of the composites by providing better adhesive properties between matrix and fibre. The results revealed that composite having 3% by weight of treated coconut fibre showed the best tensile and flexural strength out of all the samples. In the light of these findings, it can be concluded that coconut fibre-reinforced composites may be used in various domestic, construction and industrial purposes. However, there is a dearth of research on how to further enhance their mechanical properties which might help in several applications by also reducing the quantity of natural waste produced by coconut fibres.
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Deka, U., Bhuyan, M., Borah, C., Kakoti, S., Dutta, R.K. (2021). Fabrication of Treated and Untreated Coconut Fibre-Reinforced Epoxy-Based Composites of Different Fibre Content and Comparison of Their Tensile and Flexural Strengths. In: Pandey, K., Misra, R., Patowari, P., Dixit, U. (eds) Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7711-6_7
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