ENHANCEMENT OF MATERIAL PROPERTIES BY REINFORCEMENT OF NATURAL FIBERS INTO GLASS FIBER

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1 International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET) Volume 8, Issue 6, June 2017, pp , Article ID: IJCIET_08_06_086 Available online at ISSN Print: and ISSN Online: IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed ENHANCEMENT OF MATERIAL PROPERTIES BY REINFORCEMENT OF NATURAL FIBERS INTO GLASS FIBER J. Sreekanth Reddy Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, MLR Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, India J. Gangadhar Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, MLR Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, India P. Kezia Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, MLR Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, India ABSTRACT Now a days composite materials are playing a key role for the development of new materials in engineering applications. Mixing of natural fiber with Glass Fiber are effective in various fields. several studies have been conducted on this due to its high tensile strength, low weight and less cost. The present work is to evaluate the mechanical properties such as tensile, impact, flexural strength and hardness by reinforcing the glass fiber with the natural fibers such as jute and bamboo by considering the glass fiber as base material and the epoxy resin is used for bonding. The preparation of specimens are done by hand lay-up process. The results obtained from these two combinations of composite materials is then compared and optimized. Key words: Glass Fiber, Jute, Bamboo, Composite Materials, Natural Fibers. Cite this Article: J.Sreekanth Reddy, J.Gangadhar And P.Kezia, Enhancement of Material Properties by Reinforcement of Natural Fibers into Glass Fiber, International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology, 8(6), 2017, pp INTRODUCTION Composite materials are generally combination of more than one material used for the performance of unique features. Glass fiber is a reinforced polymer prepared by the matrix reinforcement of fine glass fibers. They are generally light weight, strong and are used in different aspects. But in recent days natural fibers have taken up these glass fibers due to their editor@iaeme.com

2 J.Sreekanth Reddy, J.Gangadhar and P.Kezia easy availability and cost. The development of composites are done by utilization of natural fibers such as jute, bamboo, sisal, cotton, banana etc. Natural fibers are obtained easily from the environment from either plants or animals. Due to which lot of interest have been put forth by researchers to carry the research have been taken place in this area. Such type of reinforced composites are being implemented in many applications such as automotive industries, constructions, packing, etc. In the present work two different composite materials are developed by mixing of natural fibers to glass fiber. In that one component being jute/glass fiber and the other is bamboo/glass fiber. M. Jawaid et.al [1] has studied about the tensile and dynamics properties of the jute fiber with mixing up of palm fiber and observed that the tensile properties of the fibers have been increased by using up of jute and found a better matrix upon adding of jute in oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB). By adding of EFB:jute in ratio of 1:4 results obtained as fiber breakage is seen in fracture surface and there is a effective stress in this composition. If considering the other composition of EFB:jute in 4:1 ratio observed that by increasing jute there is low modulus and slightly decrease in rubbery nature. M.Ramesh et.al [2] has studied that the sisal/gfrp and jute/gfrp specimens are prepared and tests have been obtained by considering these results the jute/gfrp specimen is having flexural load of 1.03KN which is higher than sisal/gfrp. Subbiah Jeeva et.al [3] has done his research that reinforcement of the glass fiber with natural fibers like coconut fiber, sisal fiber, banana fiber has shown results in as by adding of these natural fibers they observed to be fall in tensile strength when compared to the main specimen but the titanium dioxide has high tensile strength and mean while impact strength for all the mixtures are has obtained same results. R.S.Wani et.al [4] has done tensile testing on Bamboo fiber reinforced epoxy composite and observed that by adding of 20% of bamboo to a composition large variations have been observed that the tensile strength has been increased and it can withstand more load than the glass fiber. In the recent days the utilization of natural fibers have increased a lot due to high strength and load capacity when compared with the glass fibers. So in some cases these natural fibers are being added up to the glass fibers for the better results and in the present work the comparison is done for the two components based upon their hardness, tensile, flexural, impact tests. 2. MATERIALS USED 2.1. Glass fiber Glass fiber is one the most important material being used in many applications due to its easy availability. It is a material made by the melting of glass and it is been drawn into fine fibers. But when considering the mechanical properties it is not so tough as carbon fiber and the other polymers but it is taken due to its light weight, low cost and now-a-days these fibers are considered and being added as a base materials for the other polymers and natural fibers to form a strong and light weight reinforced composite material. The type of the glass fiber used in this composition for the preparation is an E-type glass fiber shown below in figure 1. of all the fibers the E-glass fiber is mostly used in many reinforcements as it is strong and has good electrical resistance editor@iaeme.com

3 Enhancement OF Material Properties By Reinforcement Of Natural Fibers Into Glass Fiber Figure 1 Glass Fiber 2.2. Bamboo It is one the raw material obtained from the bamboo sticks. It has good mechanical properties and achieves smooth finish which is also non hazardous to the environment. Primarily the bamboo sticks are extracted from the plant and based upon the condition, additives are added to acquire the final fiber. The length of the bamboo plants will be up to 10 to 12 ft long as shown below in figure 2. For the present work fine bamboo fibers are chosen and added to the glass fibers to prepare a bamboo/glass fiber material. Figure 2 Bamboo Fiber 2.3. Jute Jute fiber is another most predominant natural fiber obtained from the plants which is affordable, soft, lengthy and also strong fiber. It is an extra material added to the cotton used in the textile industries and applications. Jute fiber is obtained from the plant materials of lignin and cellulose, length of the plants may be up to 1mt to 5mts. This extracted material is dried to remove the wetness and then prepared into fine fibers either by the biological or chemical processing. Later fibers will be available like a spun or long threads shown below in figure 3. As it is economical, most of the costly fibers are replaced by the jute fiber. This is also used in packaging, constructions. For the present work jute bags are added to a glass fiber to prepare a composite material. Figure 3 Jute Fiber editor@iaeme.com

4 J.Sreekanth Reddy, J.Gangadhar and P.Kezia 3. PREPARATION The composite specimens prepared in the current work are being done by the simple Hand Lay-Up process. Resins are being used for the bonding of two materials to form it as a single component. The type of the resin used in the preparation of these composites is Lapox L-12 epoxy resin. Epoxies are also useful in varnishes, paints and in various industrial applications. Hardener is utilized for the easy hardening of the resin and the material used for hardening is LapoxK-6 of brand N,N-Bis (2-aminoethyl) ethane-1,2-diamine as shown in the figure 4. The glass fiber, bamboo, jute, hardener, resins are considered as the initial materials. The composition prepared is of five layers, in which the top, middle and the bottom layers, i.e., First, third and fifth layers are glass fibers. Second and fourth layers are of natural fibers i.e., one is of jute and the other is of bamboo is used as natural fibers for preparation of two different specimens. The epoxy resin should be mixed in a proper proportion with a catalyst. A fixed proportion of catalyst (hardener) is added to the resin and is stirred mechanically for few minutes before applying to the fiber. The 10% of resin is mixed with 1% of hardener in ratio of 10:1. Wax is applied on a plain surface plate for the easy removal of the material after hardening. Glass and jute/bamboo fibers of the required sizes of 50cm x 50cm are taken on which the glass fiber is placed on the priorly applied wax plate. The mixture of the hardener and resin has been applied on the glass fiber with the help of a brush is spread evenly with the help of a roller. jute/bamboo fiber is placed on glass fiber and resin mixture is once again applied on it. This procedure is continued for the five layers to achieve a complete composite specimen. Similar procedure is used for the preparation of jute specimen as well as bamboo specimen. Later the specimens are hardened to a room temperature for 48 hrs. Lab tests are carried over the prepared samples and results are tabulated. The composition of the specimens is as follows: Composite Specimen I: Resin 30% + Glass Fiber 40 % + Jute Fiber 30% Composite Specimen II: Resin 30% +Glass Fiber 40 % + Bamboo Fiber 30% 4. RESULTS Figure 4 Lapox L-12 resin & Hardner 4.1. Hardness Test The hardness of the composite specimens was tested by using the equipment shore hardness tester, the test procedure is carried out according to ASTM standard. the material editor@iaeme.com

5 Enhancement OF Material Properties By Reinforcement Of Natural Fibers Into Glass Fiber under test should be a minimum of 6.4 mm (0.25 inches) thick. The final value of the hardness depends on the depth of the indenter after it has been applied for 15 seconds on the material. The hardness values obtained for composites specimens already manufactured using the above methodology as shown in fig 5 are tested and tabulated below in table 1. Table 1 Hardness Results for both Specimens S.no Sample Description Shore "D" Hardness 1 30% Bamboo 40%Glass 30% Resin % Jute 40%Glass 30% Resin 63 Figure 5 Hardness Test Specimens 4.2. Impact Test In order to find the extent of toughness the composite specimens can with hold Charpy V notch test was carried out by using equipment Krystal Elmec model KI 300 according to ASTM D-255 standard. The values of the test are tabulated below in table 2. These tests are of high importance to understand the fracture related problems of the materials. Table 2 Impact Strength Results for both Specimens S.No Sample Description Values (Joules) 1 30% Bamboo 40% Glass 30% Resin % Jute 40% Glass 30% Resin Flexural Test The most common purpose of a flexure test is to measure flexural strength. Flexural strength is defined as the maximum stress at the outermost fiber on either the compression or tension side of the specimen. Unlike a compression test or tensile test, a flexure test does not measure fundamental material properties. When a specimen is placed under flexural loading all three fundamental stresses are present: tensile, compressive and shear and so the flexural properties of a specimen are the result of the combined effect of all three stresses as well as (though to a lesser extent) the geometry of the specimen and the rate the load is applied. Universal Testing Machine ( model UTE-60T, MCS,SI:170/0507 ) is used to carry out the flexural tests according to ASTM D standard and the tested specimens are shown below in fig 6. The flexural strength obtained for the two composite specimens are tabulated below in table 3. Table 3 Flexural Strength Results for both Specimens S.No Sample Description Flexural Strength (N/mm 2 ) 1 30% Bamboo 40% Glass 30% Resin N/mm % Jute 40% Glass 30% Resin N/mm editor@iaeme.com

6 J.Sreekanth Reddy, J.Gangadhar and P.Kezia Figure 6 Flexural Test Specimens 4.4. Tensile Test The tensile test specimens preparation and dimensions are according to the ASTM D638 standard. The test is carried out on the Universal Testing Machine (UTM).The specimen is placed in the testing machine and by applying load until it fractures. Due to the application of load, the elongation of the specimen is recorded by the load displacement curves as shown below in the fig 7 and 8. The fractured tensile test specimens are also shown below in the fig 9. The ultimate tensile strength obtained for the two composite specimens tabulated below in table 4. Figure 7 Load displacement curve for bamboo glass fiber Figure 8 Load displacement curve for jute glass fiber editor@iaeme.com

7 Enhancement OF Material Properties By Reinforcement Of Natural Fibers Into Glass Fiber S.no Table 4 Tensile Strength Results for both Specimens Sample Description Tensile Test (N/mm 2 ) 1 30% Bamboo 40% Glass 30% Resin N/mm % Jute 40% Glass 30% Resin N/mm 2 Figure 9 Tensile Test Specimens Table 5 Comparison Properties for both Specimens Comparison Properties 30% Bamboo 40% Glass 30% Resin 30% Jute 40% Glass 30% Resin Ultimate Tensile Strength N/mm N/mm 2 Flexural Strength N/mm N/mm 2 Impact Strength 2 Joules 2 Joules Hardness CONCLUSION The jute glass fiber and bamboo glass fiber are prepared and tested for its mechanical properties. The different parameters considered for the performance of these materials are tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength and hardness. Comparing the results from the table 5, it is observed that the tensile strength of the bamboo-glass fiber is more i.e, N/mm 2 and a flexural strength of N/mm 2. Though the impact strength of both the specimens are calculated to be 2 Joules, jute fiber has excelled in terms of flexural strength and hardness with the numerical values of N/mm 2 and hardness number of 62. As the bamboo-glass fiber has a fairly high ultimate tensile strength, it can be used for the design of ductile members. Depending upon the necessity, a tougher composites can be chosen as the jute-glass fiber editor@iaeme.com

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