Effect of fiber fraction on the physical and mechanical properties of short areca sheath fiber reinforced polymer composite

The fiber fraction in a composite will have a significant influence on its behavioural aspects and is reported in the current study. With different fiber fractions (0, 12, 24, 36 and 48 wt%) of the areca sheath fiber reinforcing agent, composite specimens were prepared and its physical and mechanical properties were examined. The measured density of the neat epoxy to the higher fiber fraction composite specimen (48 wt%) varies from 1.147 to 0.9524 g/cm3, from which it is evident that the density decreases with increase in the fiber concentration. On the other hand, void fraction for a neat epoxy is 0.26% which increases with the increase in the fiber concentration and is 6.14% for the 48 wt% fiber loaded specimen. An optimum values of investigated mechanical properties such as the hardness (72.56 HRB), Young’s modulus (1.98 GPa), and the Impact strength (4.724 J) have been observed with the increase in fibre fraction. The flexural strength for the neat epoxy is 46.28 MPa starts decreasing with the inclusion of fibers and reaches 12.05 MPa at a higher fraction of 48 wt%. The similar declining behaviour may be observed for the flexural modulus of 0.26 GPa and tensile strength of 14.02 MPa at high fiber fraction.