Mechanical, wear, and drop load impact behavior of Cissus quadrangularis fiber–reinforced moringa gum powder–toughened polyester composite.

This present study discusses the effects of adding moringa gum powder to Cissus quadrangularis fiber–reinforced polyester resin composites on their mechanical, wear, and drop load impact properties. The moringa gum powder was synthesized from the moringa tree, whereas the Cissus quadrangularis fiber was as-received. The composite laminates were manufactured by hand layup process using 40 vol.% of fiber along with 0.5, 1, and 2 vol.% of moringa gum powder. The results revealed that the load bearing properties such as tensile, flexural strength and tensile, flexural modulus were better for composites containing 1 vol.% of moringa gum particle with 40 vol.% of fiber. The Izod impact test reveals that composite designation (moringa gum particles of 1 vol.%) PE3 has the highest impact-absorbing capacity up to 3.75 J. The maximum microhardness value for composite designation PE4 (moringa gum particles of 2 vol.%) is about 84 Shore-D. It is observed that moringa gum toughening with an increase in particles vol.% improves wear characteristics. As well as drop load impact toughness increased by 96% for 1 vol.% of particles. However, further increment up to 2 vol.% of particle decreases the drop load impact toughness. According to SEM (scanning electron microscopy) fractography, and overall performances of composites, adding 1.0 vol.% of moringa gum particle is the better inclusion for producing highly performing composites. These enhanced features of composites, which contain 40 vol.% of fiber and 1 vol.% of particle named as PE3, could be utilized in the automotive and industrial sectors, and they may even be utilized for home decoration purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]