Studies on mechanical properties of palmyra palm leaf stalk fiber carbon fiber reinforced polyester gear

Abstract

Natural fibers based hybrid composites are eco- friendly and nontoxic. newlineOwing to high moisture absorbing behavior, these natural fibers have newlinesome limitations in applications. Synthetic fibers possess excellent newlinemechanical properties and hence they are combined with natural fibers to newlinefabricate a hybrid composite with desirable properties. Natural/synthetic fiber newlinecan replace the plastic gears for light duty transmission. Palmyra Palm Leaf newlineStalk Fiber (PPLSF), a variety of natural fiber produced from newlineBorassflabllfierareaceance tree and it was extracted by a simple retting newlineprocess. newlinePPLSF and Carbon Fibers (CF) are combined to prepare a single mat newlineof fabricate with reinforced polyester using a compression molding process. newlineIn this research, composite is fabricated with a different fiber length of 30, 40 newlineand 50mm. Three different orientations i) Random ii) Continuous newlineunidirectional and iii) Continuous bidirectional of the PPLSF/CF/Polyester newlinehybrid composite are considered in this research. Properties such as tensile, newlineflexural, impact, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) microstructure, newlineDynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) and wear properties of the hybrid newlinecomposites are investigated. newlineIt was found that the properties of the randomly oriented newlinePPLSF/CF/Polyester hybrid composite (RPCC) depend on the strength of the newlinePPLSF/CF and the interaction between the polyester matrix and fiber. The newlinemaximum tensile strength was obtained for 50 mm and 30 wt % of composite newlinecombination. The various dynamic properties (storage modulus (Eand#8223;), loss newlinemodulus (Eand#8223;and#8223;) and damping factor (Tanand#948;)) were determined for all the newlinedesignation of the RPCC. newline