Influence of Nanosilica and Layering Sequence on the Mechanical Properties of Kenaf and Banyan Fibers Reinforced Composites.

Hybrid composite was manufactured using kenaf and banyan fibers. Further, the filler like nanosilica was added to improve the performance of the composites. The influence of nanosilica and layering sequence on the mechanical properties of composites were studied. Initially, three types of composites were prepared using hand layup technique such as K/B (20/10), K/B (15/15) and K/B (10/20) by varying the layering sequence of kenaf and banyan fibers. Based on the tensile test result, the K/B (20/10) composite was selected as best composite owing to packing of supplementary amounts of high strength kenaf fiber. Further, the nanosilica was added with K/B (20/10) composite by varying the weight percentages such as 0.5, 1 and 2. The influence of nanosilica on the performance of the K/B (20/10) composite was studied. The K/B (20/10)/2wt% SiO₂ composite exhibited the better performance. Hence, it is suggested from this research that the K/B (20/10)/2wt% SiO₂ composite could be a suitable candidate for the industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]