FABRICATION & STUDY OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF NATURAL FIBER REINFORCED POLYMER COMPOSITES

Use of natural fibers as reinforcement have gained the importance in the recent years due to the eco-friendly nature. These natural fibers offer a number of advantages over traditional synthetic fibers. This paper deals with the evaluation of mechanical properties namely, Tensile strength (TS), Flexural strength (FS), Vickers Hardness (Hv), Impact Strength (J). Specimens were prepared by hand lay-up technique and are cut as per ASTM standards to perform test. In the present work experimental investigation has been carried out on different weight percentage of bamboo fiber (0, 15, 30 and 45) is used to modify epoxy resin properties. The experimental result reveals that the mechanical properties of the composite material were highly influenced by the fiber volume fraction (fiber loading). Addition of alumina (Al2O3) particulate at various proportions as filler material the mechanical properties viz. Tensile strength, Flexural strength, Hardness, Impact strength are improved.