Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

ScienceDirect
Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 5445–5451 www.materialstoday.com/proceedings

6th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization (ICMPC 2016)

Characterization of Properties of epoxy sisal / Glass Fiber

Reinforced hybrid composite
R. S. Rana1 Ashish kumre2, Saraswati Rana3, and Rajesh Purohit4
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering MANIT Bhopal India
1
2Research scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, MANIT Bhopal India
3 Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, RKDF University Bhopal India
4Associate professor department of Mechanical Engineering MANIT Bhopal India

Abstract

In the present study, the natural fiber polymer composite mix with the glass fiber, to enhance the mechanical property of
composite. In this thesis, sisal and glass fiber are reinforced into the epoxy matrix. In present study acytelated sisal fiber use as a
reinforce in the composite, to increase the interfacial bonding between reinforced and matrix material. Glass fiber is also used to
enhance the mechanical property. In the study, two fixed layer of glass fibre with different weight percentage of sisal fiber (0%,
2%, 4%, and 6%) is reinforced with epoxy matrix composite. And the mechanical property of are studied and it obtained up to a
4% tensile, flexural strength is increase and then decrease. The Impact strength increase in regular trend.
© 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of 6th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization
(ICMPC 2016).

Keywords: glass fiber reinforced polymer comosite , natural fiber, fiber rainforce polymer composite.

1. Introduction

Today construction industry is revolutionizing in two major ways. One way is the development of construction
techniques, such as using automated tools in construction. The other is the advancement in high-performance
construction materials, such as the introduction of high strength composite. Natural fiber replaces the synthetic fiber
due to its superior properties for example high specific strength, small weight, and low cost, moderately good
mechanical property, non-abrasive recyclable and bio-degradable features. But the mechanical properties of natural
fiber composites are less than that of synthetic composite like glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP).

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ravindrarana74@gmail.com

2214-7853 © 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of 6th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization (ICMPC 2016).
5446 R.S. Rana et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 5445–5451

Mohit Sood et al. [1] the present study tells us the results of chemical treatments on flexural and tensile properties
of chemical compound composites made-up by reinforcing treated sisal fibers into 50-50 mixture
of contemporary and recycled HDPE matrix. Navjot Pal Singh et al [2] study investigates the result of reinforcing
sisal and hemp fibers, either alone or synchronous, into compound matrix, containing 50-50 mixture of recent and
recycled HDPE, on the tensile behaviour. The operative failure modes within the composites are determined to be
fibber pull out and fibre breakage. Himanshu Bisaria et al [3] this work investigates the tensile, flexural and impact
properties of epoxy and randomly oriented short jute fibre reinforced epoxy composite. The results show that the
tensile and flexural properties were found maximum for the composite with 15 mm length of fibre whereas the
impact properties were found maximum for the composite with 20 mm length of fibre.

In this study, the effects of sisal fiber loading on mechanical properties such as tensile, flexure and impact
Properties of sisal fiber reinforced epoxy composite were investigated.

Nomenclature

S1 Pure epoxy specimen

S2 2 % sisal fiber reinforced epoxy composite
S3 2% sisal+2fix layer of glass fiber reinforced epoxy composite
S4 4% sisal+2fix layer of glass fiber reinforced epoxy composite
S5 6% sisal+2fix layer of glass fiber reinforced epoxy composite

2. Materials and Experimental Procedure

To obtain the biodegradable polymer composite, sisal fiber mix with glass fiber reinforces epoxy composite. These
for work the Sisal fiber, glass fiber and epoxy are collected from local resources.

2.1 materials
2.1.1 Resin and hardener

The sisal and epoxy AY-105 were used as reinforcement and matrix respectively. The hardener HY-951 was used as
curing agent. In this work the sisal fiber, glass fiber, epoxy and hardener were purchased from local supplier. Epoxy
has the viscosity and lap shear at 25 °C, 11345 maps and 12.63 MPa respectively.

2.1.2 Fibre

Sisal fibers are obtained from the leaves of the plant Agave Sisalana and are largely available in southern parts of
India. Incorporation of sisal fiber into thermosetting plastics has been reported by various workers. Paramasivan and
Abdul Kalam [4] investigated the feasibility of developing polymer-based composites due to the low cost production
of composites and the ease of fabrication process. Joseph et al. [5] studied the influence of interfacial adhesion on
the mechanical and fracture behavior of short sisal fiber reinforced polymer composites of several thermoset resin
matrices. The density of the neat epoxy was calculated 1.109 g/cm3 at room temperature. Sisal fiber in the form of
plant and fiber is shown in figure 1(a) and (b) respectively. The mechanical, physical and chemical properties of
sisal fibers are given in Table 1.
 R.S. Rana et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 5445–5451 5447

Fig.1 (a) sisal plant; (b) sisal fiber

Table1. Mechanical, physical and chemical properties of sisal fiber

Property sisal fiber

Diameter (μm) 100-300

Density (g/cm3) 1.45
Cellulose 65-78
Hemicelluloses (%) 10-14
Pectin (%) 10
Lignin (%) 9.9
Wax (%) 2.0
Elongation at break (%) 4-9

2.2. Preparation of composite

Conventional hand lay-up method is used to fabricate composite. A die of dimension 150 × 140 × 40 mm3 is used
for fabrication purpose. Nelson wax is used as mold releasing agent. Treated sisal fibre is reinforced in whisker
form. E glass fibre mat is also cut according to dimension of mold i.e. 150 × 140 mm2. A mixture of hardener and
epoxy is prepared in 1:15 ratio. This mixture is smoothly poured in mould evenly then a layer of E glass fibre mat is
placed over the layer of epoxy. It is then rolled by a roller so as to remove any air trapped. After it epoxy layer
followed by evenly distribution of short fibre of coir is placed. Then again a layer of epoxy followed by glass mat
layer is placed. Roller is used to properly mixing and evenly distribution. It then left in mold for 24 hours under
pressure of 5 kg for setting of composite. Two factors that are fiber length and fibre volume fraction are varied. For
10 mm coir fibre length sample of 5%, 6%, 7% weight percentages are prepared. Same percentage fibbers are also
prepared for 15 mm fibre length.

3. Mechanical Testing

Tensile, flexural & impact test on the specimen of sisal glass fiber reinforced composite were carried out. Two
separate specimens for each test and the average value was reported.
3.1. Tensile test

ASTM D3039 standards are used for tensile testing of the samples. Tensile Tests are performed on a universal
testing machine, INSTRON 3382 with load capacity of 100kN. Specimen are cut form fabricated sample in required
dimension of 100 x 15 x 5 mm3. These tests carried out on different sample at a strain rate of 100 mm/min
(constant).
5448 R.S. Rana et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 5445–5451

3.2. Flexural test

ASTM D3039 standards are used for tensile testing of the samples. Tensile Tests are performed on a universal
testing machine, INSTRON 3382 with load capacity of 100kN. Specimen are cut form fabricated sample in required
dimension of 100 x 15 x 5 mm3. These tests carried out on different sample at a strain rate of 100 mm/min
(constant).

3.3. Impact test

For analyzing the impact strength of hybrid composite Izod test is used for impact testing. The samples clamped into
the tester were hit by a pendulum, released from a height. Dial indicator attached to the pendulum rod directly shows
the impact strength of the specimen. Specimens of the size of 64 x 12.7 x 4 mm3 are prepared from composite sheet.
Fig. shows systematic diagram of specimen arrangement for Izod test in impact testing machine.

4. Results and Discussions

4.1. Tensile test

The tensile strength and tensile modulus of epoxy and jute composite are given in Table 2, and its corresponding
data are plotted in Fig.2 From the experiment and above result and graph it is clear that tensile strength is increasing
up to composition of 4% sisal/glass fiber reinforced epoxy hybrid composite. When further increase the wt% of sisal
fiber tensile stress start going to decrease. This is because of increasing amount of sisal fiber which causes the poor
interfacial bonding between reinforcement and matrix material. And these may also be due to the access amount of
sisal and less amount of matrix material which cause do not offer proper mixing with each other that’s by bonding
between the reinforcement and matrix material is less. And according to the AFM by roughness analysis the
roughness is decrease which also cause to poor bonding. The maximum value of tensile stress is 48 N/mm2.
Table 2. showing the value of tensile stress at different compositions of hybrid composite
Composite specimen Tensile strength in MPA
S1 5.6
S2 21.4
S3 37.4
S4 48.0
S5 25.2

tensile stress at different wt % of sisal

Tensile stress in mpa

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0% sisal 2% sisal 2% sisal+epoxy 4% sisal 6% sisal
different wt% of sisal with glass and epoxy

Figure 2 showing the variation of tensile strength of at different composition of reinforcement

 R.S. Rana et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 5445–5451 5449

4.2 FLEXURAL TEST

The tensile strength and tensile modulus of epoxy and jute composite are given in Table 3, and its corresponding
data are plotted in Fig.3 increasing up to 4% of sisal/ glass fiber reinforced epoxy hybrid composite and again
increasing the sisal fiber decrease the flexural stress. Flexural result also shows the similar manner of like tensile
stress. Flexural stress increase up to 4% and then at 6% the graph is growing down. These may be due to the
increasing of fiber loading that may cause non-homogeneous mixing which causes the poor bonding. And also can
be due the decreasing of roughness which may cause slipping effect. The maximum value of flexural stress is 159
N/mm2.

Table 3 showing the value of flexural stress at different compositions of hybrid composite

Composite specimen flexural stress in MPA

S1 30.00
S2 33.48
S3 87.34
S4 159.00
S5 19.76

flexural stress at different wt% of sisal

FLEXURAL STRESSMPA

200

150

100

50

0
0% SISAL 2% SISAL 2%SISAL+EPOXY 4% SISAL 6% SISAL
sample with different wt % of sisal

Fig 3 showing the variation of flexural stress of at different composition of reinforcement

4.3 Impact test

The Impact strength of the specimen of the size of 63 x 13 x 4 mm3 is prepared from composite sheet. Impact test
result also gives the same trend as tensile stress and flexural stress. The impact strength increases up to 4% sisal,
glass fiber reinforced epoxy matrix hybrid composite and then decrease at 6%. The impact strength of hybrid
composite is first increase and then decrease. This trend is following by all mechanical properties of sisal, glass fiber
reinforced epoxy composite of different composition. That is because of the improper chemical bonding. In impact
test, firstly, the break energy trend is growing continuously but the area of last specimen is more compare to the
other specimen. That’s may be one cause of decreasing impact strength of last specimen. That’s by trend of last
composition is decreasing. The main region of decreasing all the properties is poor bonding between the
reinforcement and matrix material. The maximum impact strength is 44.9175 KJ/m2 as shown in below Fig. 4.
5450 R.S. Rana et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 5445–5451

Table 4. showing the value of impact strength at various composition of hybrid composite

Composite specimen impact strength in k/m2

S1 3.523
S2 4.292
S3 14.687
S4 44.917
S5 36.539

impact strength at different wt % of sisal

50
45
40
IMPACT STRESS MPA

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0% SISAL 2% SISAL 2%SISAL +EPOXY 4% SISAL 6% SISAL
sample of Different composition

Figure 4 showing the variation of Impact strength of at different composition of reinforcement

5.Conclusions

Conclusions that can be drawn from the above study results are given below:
 Present study and experiment work show that successful fabrication of sisal /glass fiber reinforced epoxy
hybrid composite.
 Chemical treatment of sisal fiber is good obtain interfacial bonding but due to higher amount of sisal fiber
proportional to the epoxy property decrease after a certain proportion.
 Proper homogeneous mixing of sisal, glass fiber with epoxy composite also very important in fabrication
of hybrid composite otherwise some non-uniformity is occur like air trapped between it or porosity.
 Acetone use as coupling agent is also plays an important role in forming the interfacial bonding between
reinforce and matrix material.
 It is investigated that the property like tensile, flexural, impact is increase up to the 4% of fiber loading
then decrease.
 From experimental analysis, it is obtained that the maximum value of tensile stress is 48 Map, maximum
flexural stress is 159 Map, and the maximum value of impact stress is 44 kJ/ m2.
 R.S. Rana et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 5445–5451 5451

References

[1] Mohit Sooda, Dharmpal Deepakb�, V.K Guptac, “Effect of Fiber Chemical Treatment on Mechanical Properties of Sisal Fiber/Recycled
HDPE Composite”, Materials Today: Proceedings 2 (2015) 3149 – 3155.
[2] Navjot Pal Singha, Lakshay Aggarwalb, V.K.Guptac* “Tensile Behavior of Sisal/Hemp Reinforced High Density Polyethylene Hybrid
Composite”, Materials Today: Proceedings 2 (2015) 3140 – 3148.
[3] Himanshu Bisariaa, M.K.Guptaa*, P.Shandilyaa, R.K. Srivastavaa, “Effect of fiber length on mechanical properties of randomly oriented
short jute fibre reinforced epoxy composite”, Materials Today: Proceedings 2 (2015) 1193 – 1199.
[4] Paramasivam T, Abdul Kalam A. Fibre Sci Technol New Delhi
1974; 1:85–98.
[5] Joseph K, Thomas S, Pavithran C. Polymer 1996; 32:10.
[6] Sanjay M R, Arpitha G R, B Yogesha, Materials Today: Proceedings, 2, (2015) 2959 – 2967.
[7] N. Venkateshwaran a, A. ElayaPerumal a, A. Alavudeen b, M. Thiruchitrambalam, Materials and Design, 32, (2011) 4017–4021.
[8] Min Zhi Ronga, b,*, Ming Qiu Zhangb, Yuan Liub, Gui Cheng Yangb, Han Min Zeng, Composites Science and Technology 61 (2001) 1437
1447.
[9] Sutanu Samantaa*,M. Muralidharb,Thingujam Jackson singhc, S. Sarkard, NERIST, Arunachal Pradesh, India,2015
[10] Hari Om Maurya, M.K. Gupta*, R.K. Srivastava, H. Singh, Materials Today: Proceedings 2 ( 2015 ) 1347 – 1355.
[11] Bai SL, Li RKY, Wu LCM, Zeng HM, Mai YW, Journal of materials science letters 1998;17:1805-1807.
[12] Yan Li, Yiu-Wing Mai *, Lin Ye, Composites Science and Technology 60 (2000) 2037±2055.