Abstract

Compos?tes made w?th natural f?bers are f?nd?ng appl?cat?ons ?n a w?de var?ety of eng?neer?ng f?elds due to the?r low cost and eco-fr?endly nature. The fabr?cated compos?te samples are tested to ?nvest?gate the var?ous mechan?cal and wear propert?es. Th?s research work deals w?th hybr?d compos?te mater?als made of natural f?bres namely kenaf and flax f?bres. Glass f?bre re?nforcement polymer (GFRP) ?s used for lam?nat?on on both s?des. The test result shows that hybr?d compos?te has far better propert?es than s?ngle f?bre glass re?nforced compos?te. The mechan?cal and wear propert?es of the f?bers are evaluated under d?fferent comb?nat?ons as per ASTM standards, and the analys?s are compared w?th a software analys?s us?ng ANSYS software.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

A compos?te mater?al ?s a mater?al made from two or more const?tuent mater?als w?th s?gn?f?cantly d?fferent phys?cal or chem?cal propert?es that, when comb?ned, produce a mater?al w?th character?st?cs d?fferent from the ?nd?v?dual components. The ?nd?v?dual components rema?n separate and d?st?nct w?th?n the f?n?shed structure, d?fferent?at?ng compos?tes from m?xtures and solut?ons.The new mater?al may be preferred for many reasons: common examples ?nclude mater?als wh?ch are stronger, l?ghter, or less expens?ve when compared to trad?t?onal mater?als.

A. Overview

Over the last th?rty years compos?te mater?als, plast?cs   and ceram?cs have been the dom?nant emerg?ng mater?als. The volume and number of appl?cat?ons of compos?te mater?als have grown stead?ly, penetrat?ng and conquer?ng new markets relentlessly. Modern compos?te mater?als const?tute a s?gn?f?cant proport?on of the eng?neered mater?als market rang?ng from everyday products to soph?st?cated n?che appl?cat?ons. Wh?le compos?tes have already proven the?r worth as we?ght-sav?ng mater?als, the current challenge ?s to make them cost effect?ve.

B. Class?f?cat?on of Compos?tes

Broadly, compos?te mater?als can be class?f?ed ?nto three groups on the bas?s of   matr?x mater?al. They are:

1. Metal Matr?x Compos?tes (MMC)
2. Ceram?c Matr?x Compos?tes (CMC)
3. Polymer Matr?x Compos?tes (PMC)

C. F?ber Re?nforced Compos?te

Common f?ber re?nforced compos?tes are composed of f?bers and a matr?x. F?bers are the re?nforcement and the ma?n source of strength wh?le matr?x glues all the f?bers together ?n shape and transfers stresses between the re?nforc?ng f?bers. The f?bers carry the loads along the?r long?tud?nal d?rect?ons.

Somet?mes, f?ller m?ght be added to smooth the manufactur?ng process, ?mpact spec?al propert?es to the compos?tes, and /or reduce the product cost.

D. Matr?x

The role of matr?x ?n a f?ber-re?nforced compos?te ?s to transfer stress between the f?bers, to prov?de a barr?er aga?nst an adverse env?ronment and to protect the surface of the f?bers from mechan?cal abras?on. The matr?x plays a major role ?n the tens?le load carry?ng capac?ty of a compos?te structure. The b?nd?ng agent or matr?x ?n the compos?te ?s of cr?t?cal ?mportance. Three major types of matr?ces have been reported: Polymer?c, Metall?c and Ceram?c. Most of the compos?tes used ?n the ?ndustry today are based on polymer matr?ces.

Polymer res?ns have been d?v?ded broadly ?nto two categor?es:

1. Thermosett?ng
2. Thermoplast?cs.

E. F?bers

F?bers are the pr?nc?pal const?tuent ?n a f?ber re?nforced compos?tes.   They occupy the largest volume fract?on ?n a compos?te structure   and   share   the major load act?ng on ?t. Proper select?on of the f?ber type,   f?ber   volume fract?on, f?ber length, and f?ber or?entat?on ?s very ?mportant ?ncompos?tes.

F?ber ?nfluence the follow?ng character?st?cs of compos?te structure

1. Dens?ty
2. Tens?le strength and modulus
3. Compress?ve strength and modulus
4. Fat?gue strength and as well as fat?gue fa?lure mechan?sms
5. Electr?cal and thermal conduct?v?t?es

F. Objectives

1. A composite material is a combination of two   materials   with   different   physical   and chemical properties. When they are combined they create a material which is   specialised   to do a certain job, for instance to become stronger, lighter or resistant to electricity. They can also improve strength and stiffness.
2. In a composite, the fiber, held in place by the matrix resin, contributes tensile strength, enhancing performance properties in the final part, such as strength and stiffness, while minimizing weight.
3. Typically, the goal is to improve strength, stiffness, or toughness, or dimensional stability by embedding particles or fibers in a matrix or binding phase.
4. The device, which is called a prosthesis, can help us to perform daily activities such as walking, eating, or dressing.

II. LITERATURE SURVEY

A. Natural F?ber Re?nforced Compos?tes

The mechan?cal propert?es of a natural f?ber-re?nforced compos?te depend on many parameters, such as f?ber strength, modulus, f?ber length and or?entat?on, ?n add?t?on to the f?ber-matr?x ?nterfac?al bond strength. A strong f?ber-matr?x ?nterface bond ?s cr?t?cal for h?gh mechan?cal propert?es of compos?tes. A good ?nterfac?al bond ?s requ?red for effect?ve stress transfer from the matr?x to the f?ber whereby max?mum ut?l?zat?on of the f?ber strength ?n the compos?te ?s ach?eved. Mod?f?cat?on to the f?ber also ?mproves res?stance to mo?sture ?nduced degradat?on of the ?nterface and the  compos?te propert?es.

B. Mechan?cal Propert?es Of Compos?tes 

Tens?le and flexural strengths of coconut spathe and spathe-f?ber re?nforced epoxy compos?tes were evaluated to assess the poss?b?l?ty of us?ng ?t as a new mater?al ?n eng?neer?ng appl?cat?ons. Samples were fabr?cated by the hand layup process (30:70 f?ber and matr?x rat?o by we?ght). Tens?le and flexural strengths for the coconut spathe-f?ber- re?nforced compos?te lam?nates ranged from 7.9 to 11.6 MPa and from 25.6 to 67.2 MPa respect?vely, ?mply?ng that the tens?le strength of coconut spathe- f?ber ?s ?nfer?or to other natural f?ber such as cotton, coconut co?r and banana f?bers. The tens?le strength on the pseudo-stem banana woven fabr?c re?nforced epoxy compos?te ?s ?ncreased by 90% compared to v?rg?n epoxy. The flexural strength ?ncreased when banana woven fabr?c was used w?th epoxy mater?al. The results of the ?mpact strength test showed that the pseudo-stem banana f?ber ?mproved the ?mpact strength propert?es of the v?rg?n epoxy mater?al by approx?mately 40%. H?gher ?mpact strength value leads to h?gher toughness propert?es of the mater?al. The banana f?ber compos?te exh?b?ts a duct?le appearance w?th m?n?mum plast?c deformat?on.

III. MATERIALS AND METHODS

A. Materials

Th?s chapter descr?bes the deta?ls of process?ng of the compos?tes and the exper?mental procedures followed for the?r mechan?cal character?zat?on. The raw mater?als used are :

1. Flax f?ber
2. Kenaf f?ber
3. S-glass f?ber
4. Epoxy res?n
5. Hardener

B. Methods

1. Hand Layup Techn?que

The hand layup techn?que ?s one of the oldest and most commonly used methods for manufacture of the compos?te parts. The ?nfrastructural requ?rement for th?s method ?s less. The process?ng steps are qu?te s?mple. ?n the beg?nn?ng a l?qu?d paraff?n ?s sprayed on the mould surface toavo?d the st?ck?ng of f?ber to the mould surface. Th?n plast?c sheets are used at the top and bottom of the mould to get good surface f?n?sh of the product. The f?bers wh?ch are ?n the form of woven mats are cut as per themould s?ze and placed at the surface of mould. Then the l?qu?d form epoxy res?n and the prescr?bed hardner (polymer) ?s m?xed thoroughly ?n su?table proport?on w?th a rat?o of 10:1 and ?t ?s poured on to the mould surface where the f?ber ?s placed. The polymer ?s un?formly spread w?th the help of roller. Second layer of the f?ber ?s then placed on the polymer surface and a roller ?s moved w?th a m?ld pressure on the f?ber- polymer layer to remove any a?r trapped as well as the excess polymer present. The process ?s repeated for each layer of polymer and f?ber, t?ll the requ?red layers. After plac?ng the plast?c sheet, l?qu?d paraff?n ?s sprayed on the ?nner surface of the top mould plate wh?ch ?s then kept on the stacked layers and the pressure ?s appl?ed.

2. Combination of Fibers

?n th?s research, we are go?ng to fabr?cate 3 d?fferent var?ants us?ng the natural f?bers ?n between the synthet?c f?bers. We are us?ng d?fferent comb?nat?ons to determ?ne the best comb?nat?on based on the test results.

Fig. 3.1 Sequence of Laminates

3. Ansys

ANSYS ?s a general purpose software, used to s?mulate ?nteract?ons of all d?sc?pl?nes of phys?cs, structural, v?brat?on, flu?d dynam?cs, heat transfer and electromagnet?c for eng?neers. So ANSYS, wh?ch enables to s?mulate tests or work?ng cond?t?ons, enables to test ?n v?rtual env?ronment before manufactur?ng prototypes of products. Furthermore, determ?n?ng and ?mprov?ng weak po?nts, comput?ng l?fe and foresee?ng probable problems are poss?ble by 3D s?mulat?ons ?n v?rtual env?ronment. ANSYS software w?th ?ts modular structure as seen ?n the table below g?ves an opportun?ty for tak?ng only needed features. ANSYS can work ?ntegrated w?th other used eng?neer?ng software on desktop by add?ng CAD and FEA connect?on modules. ANSYS can ?mport CAD data and also enables to bu?ld a geometry w?th ?ts "preprocess?ng" ab?l?t?es. S?m?larly ?n the same preprocessor, f?n?te element model (a.k.a. mesh) wh?ch ?s requ?red for computat?on ?s generated. After def?n?ng load?ngs and carry?ng out analyses, results can be v?ewed as numer?cal and graph?cal. ANSYS can carry out advanced eng?neer?ng analyses qu?ckly, safely and pract?cally by ?ts var?ety of contact algor?thms, t?me based load?ng features and nonl?near mater?al models .ANSYS Workbench ?s a platform wh?ch ?ntegrate s?mulat?on technolog?es and parametr?c CAD systems w?th un?que automat?on and performance.

Conclusion

The Exper?mental results from test?ng the d?fferent compos?te comb?nat?ons under stat?c load?ng cond?t?on the ?mpact strength and the wear propert?es are calculated. Mult? layered hybr?d compos?tes were fabr?cated for the ma?n object?ve of m?n?m?zat?on of we?ght and ?mprove the phys?cal propert?es of the mater?al. The object?ve was to f?nd wear character?st?cs and analyze the spec?mens w?th m?n?mum we?ght wh?ch ?s capable of carry?ng g?ven stat?c external forces by constra?nts l?m?t?ng stresses and d?splacement. From the test results, we conclude that the comb?nat?on S1 has a h?gher ?mpact strength compared to S2 comb?nat?ons. On the other hand, the comb?nat?on S1 has better wear propert?es when tested under normal cond?t?ons, and better stress d?str?but?on when analyzed us?ng ANSYS APDL software.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2023 Fazal Abbas, Sumita Chaturvedi, P. K. Bharti. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.