Toughness of polyester matrix composites reinforced with sugarcane bagasse fibers evaluated by Charpy impact tests

The fibers extracted from the sugarcane bagasse have been investigated as possible reinforcement for polymer matrix composites. The use of these composites in engineering applications, associated with conditions such as ballistic armor, requires information on the impact toughness. In the present work, Charpy tests were performed in ASTM standard specimens of polyester matrix composites, reinforced with 10, 20 and 30 vol% of continuous and aligned sugarcane bagasse fibers, in order to evaluate the impact energy. Within the standard deviation, the composite absorbed impact energy increased with the volume fraction of sugarcane bagasse fiber. This toughness performance was found by scanning electron microscopy to be associated with the fiber/matrix delamination. Keywords: Sugarcane bagasse fiber, Polyester composites, Charpy test, Impact toughness