MECHANICAL BEHAVIOUR OF TREATED AND UNTREATED SISAL- KENAF HYB RID COMPOSITE MATERIALS

In recent trends, replacement of complex metal extracts from naturally available fiber composites has become a keen in every industrial application. These natural composites are most likely to inherit all the properties of metals and serve their purpose a better way. The aim of at this paper is to study the mechanical behaviour of treated and untreated sisal-kenaf fiber composite materials. The composites are prepared from sisal fiber (33cm, 3layers), kenaf fiber (33cm, 3layers) .The resin used was epoxy (LY 556) and ghardner (HY 951). Hand lay-up method was used for fabrication of fibers. Chemical treatment of the composites is done using NaOH solution by the mercerization process. The Mechanical properties were determined using experimental techniques. Results showed that the chemically treated composite sample exhibits better mechanical stability than untreated sample. This is because of chemical treatment eliminates the cellulose matter present between the fibrers providing among them better bonding strength. This bonding strength of fibrers affects the overall properties of the composite. This analysis gives an essence of the properties of the composite under varying loading conditions.