Fabrication of Banana-Glass epoxy reinforced composite and to evaluate its mechanical properties by experimental and FEM technique

Abstract

The concern for the environmental pollution and the prevention of resources has attracted researchers to develop new eco-friendly green materials based on sustainability principles. The natural fiber gives indisputable advantages over synthetic reinforcement materials such as low density, non-toxicity, low cost, comparable strength with minimum waste disposal. For sustainable environmental condition natural fibers are good in corrosion resistant, low cost, biodegradable, high strength when compared with conventional synthetic materials. In this experimental study, there are three different composite samples were fabricated by banana fiber (B) and glass fiber (G) with epoxy resin (E) as a matrix. The samples are made based on the different volume fraction of banana fiber with the laminar orientations of banana fiber (such as 0˚/45˚/90˚) and glass fiber with random orientations. The Hand layup technique is used to produce this hybrid composite. The tensile test, flexural test, and impact test were carried out to find the mechanical properties of the hybrid composite fiber. The testing results show, tensile strength increases with increase in volume percentage of glass fiber. The flexural strength of 40(B)/40(G)/20(E) % of volume fraction is greater than other two samples. The impact strength values decrease with increase in volume percentage of banana fiber. The simulated mechanical properties will be verified experimentally and by changing the volume fraction and type of fibers in ANSYS 18.2 flexural strength was evaluated and compared.