EFFECT OF FIBER LENGTH ON THE PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF RANDOM OREINTED, NONWOVEN SHORT BANANA (MUSA BALBISIANA) FIBRE /EPOXY COMPOSITE

The effects of Banana fibre length on the physical and mechanical properties of banana fibre/epoxy composite were investigated. Five different samples were produced by varying the length of the fibre between 5mm and 25mm at 30% wt. fibre loading using the hand lay-up moulding technique. The mean density, percent moisture absorption, void content, tensile strength, tensile modulus, % elongation, compressive strength, impact energy, flexural strength and modulus of the composite were analysed. The results showed that the percent moisture absorption, void content and the compressive strength increased with increase fibre length while a decrease in density was observed. However, the tensile strength, tensile modulus and percent elongation had their highest values of 67.2 MPa, 653.07 MPa and 5.9% respectively at 15mm fibre length suggesting critical fibre length for effective and maximum stress transfer. The impact energy at failure, on the other hand, decreased with increase in fibre length from 80J to 40J for 5 mm and 25 mm fibre lengths respectively.