Development and Performance Analysis of Jute Fiber and Alumni Powder Reinforced Phenol Formaldehyde Hybrid Composites
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Increasing worldwide environmental awareness is encouraging scientists andengineers to concentrate on eco - friendly components available in natural resources. Continuoussearch is on by academic research and Industrial research for new materials since 20 th century.Composites, the wonder material with light-weight, high strength-to-weight ratio and stiffnessproperties have come a long way in replacing the conventional materials like metals, woods etc.Therefore, Composites of polymers both (thermoset and thermoplastic) with available naturalresources received greater focus. Combination of materials with identifiable interface is denoted ascomposite. Composite has really revolutionized the concept high strength and low weight concept.Further natural fiber reinforce components are strong, stiff, light weight, recyclable with highmechanical properties, high electrical insulation properties for breakdown resistance Fillerreinforced material consists of fillers embedded in or bonded to a polymer matrix with distinct interphases. The fillers can be in the form of plastics, fibers, whiskers or flakes. The combination of fillerwith the matrix and natural fiber produces enhanced values of mechanical properties that cannotbe achieved by either of the constituents acting alone. Composite Polymers are extensively used inmany engineering applications such as automotive, sports goods, marine, electrical, industrial,household appliances, more sustainable construction and packing materials General tendency ofman is to lead a comfortable life. For this, he needs new and useful material. Composite materialsallow a great versatility of designs and offer many advantages over conventional materials.Polymer matrix can be processed at room temperature compared to other types of matrixes. Due tothe availability various thermosetting resins such as epoxy, viny Lester, polyester, phenolicpolyamides, cyanate ester etc, It is noted that though continuous search of composites is on atvarious Countries, scope for further requirements of human race is still to be explored in presentwork, Alumni powder with jute fiber reinforced phenol formaldehyde composites have been plannedto make hybrid composite samples as per ASTM standards, using hand layup process. The treatedand untreated samples of composites with variable percentage weights fiber loading will be usedfor testing the mechanical properties and thermal properties as per ASTM standards. Furtherevaluation of chemical resistance and electron microscopy (SEM) will be conducted for theperformance of the composites. Recently, the demand for reinforced plastics from natural,sustainable, biodegradable, and environmentally friendly fibers has been rising worldwide.However, the main shortcoming of natural fibers reinforced plastics is the poor compatibilitybetween reinforcing fibers and the matrix. Hence, it is necessary to form a strong attachment of thefibers to the matrix to obtain the optimum performance. In this work, chemical treatments (acidpretreatment, alkali pretreatment and scouring) were employed on jute fibers to modify them. Themechanical properties, surface morphology, and Fourier transform infrared spectra of treated anduntreated jute fibers were analyzed to understand the influence of chemical modifications on thefiber. Then, jutefiber/epoxy composites with a unidirectional jute fiber organization were prepared. Basi cvi properties of the composites such as the void fraction, tensile strength, initial modulus, andelongation at break were studied. The better interfacial adhesion of treated fibers was shown byscanning electron microscope (SEM) images of fractured coupons. Hence, the chemical treatmentof jute fiber has a significant impact on the formation of voids in the composites as well as themechanical properties of jute fiber composites applications as in aerospace, automotive, medicalscience and marine industries. In this paper the mechanical behavior of jute fiber-aluminum (Al)powder polymer composite has been investigated experimentally. The materials selected for thestudies were jute fiber and aluminum powder as the reinforcement and epoxy resin as the matrix.The hand lay-out technique was used to fabricate these composites. Composite plates wereprepared by incorporating jute fiber and aluminum powder at 8 and 16 volume percent in epoxymatrix. Results showed that the overall tensile strength, impact property, hardness, Young’smodulus and comparison of strength of hybrid composites (reinforced by both powder and fiber) ishigher than other single reinforced composites. By incorporation of natural fibers and metalpowder into the polymer, the mechanical properties almost enhanced to greater extent. It can thusbe inferred that jute fiber and Al powder can be a very potential candidate in making of compositesfor low load bearing.
Authors: Bommaji Mahendra, Dr.E.V.Subba Reddy, Dr.Santoshkumar Roi
Language: English
Subfield: Polymers and Plastics
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4409304725