Modeling and optimization of the manufacturing parameters of a hybrid fiber reinforced polymer composite PxGyEz.

Due to rising environmental concerns, there has been the need to replace synthetic fibers which are non-environmentally friendly and of limited availability, with natural fibers which are eco-friendly, having considerable mechanical properties, and of a renewable source. Pineapple leaf fibers, known with high strength to weight ratio, have shown promising features. This study seeks to harness the features of these synthetic and natural fibers in a polymer composite material. In this study, a composite material PxGyEz (with x, y, and z representing the volume fraction of pineapple leaf fiber (P), the volume fraction of glass fiber (G), and fiber length respectively in Epoxy (E) matrix) was developed and its manufacturing parameters and constituents optimized for high tensile strength. The Taguchi robust experimental design technique was employed for the combination of the variable parameters of volume content of pineapple leaf (10%, 15%, and 20%), glass fiber volume content (20%, 15%, and 10%), and the fiber length (15mm, 20mm, and 25mm). The optimal combination of the variable parameters for the best tensile strength was pineapple leaf fiber at 10% volume content, glass fiber at 20% volume content, and fiber length at 15mm. The optimized composite P10G20E15 possessed a tensile strength of 95.3144MPa which was only a 5.9% deviation from the predicted optimum tensile strength. Analysis of variance showed that the glass fiber had the highest contribution of 50.64% to the tensile strength of PxGyEz, PALF 15.53%, and fiber length 28.84%. SEM images of the PALF, glass fiber, and fractured surface of the optimized material P10G20E15 revealed the surface structure which explained their different contributions to the tensile strength of the materials. A regression equation was developed to predict the behavioral trend of the tensile strength of PxGyEz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]