A STUDY ON THE ABRASION RESISTANCE, COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH AND HARDNESS OF BANANA? FIBRE REINFORCED NATURAL RUBBER COMPOSITES

The abundance of natural fibres, particularly banana fibres in India as an agricultural waste and the good properties offered by them like tensile strength, wear resistance, hardness, bio-degradability and eco-friendliness make it a good substitute to the non-biodegradable, toxic and costly synthetic fibres in many engineering applications. India is a lead producer of Banana fibre. The main challenge faced by researchers in the development of natural fibre composites is the attainment of a good interfacial bonding, so as to transfer the load effectively from matrix to fibre. To achieve the desired level of fibre-matrix interphase strength, the fibres are given four different surface treatments- alkalization, benzoylation, permanganate treatment and fibre surface impregnation with rubber. The pretreatment of fibres and the composite manufacturing process has a great influence on the properties of banana fibre reinforced elastomer composites.