A novel palm sheath and sugarcane bagasse fiber based hybrid composites for automotive applications: An experimental approach

TLDR

The study develops a novel hybrid composite from palm sheath and sugarcane bagasse fibers and investigates its mechanical properties. Composites were fabricated by compression molding epoxy resin with varying proportions of untreated or NaOH‑treated palm sheath and sugarcane bagasse fibers, and their tensile, flexural, hardness, and impact properties were measured per ASTM standards. The optimal formulation exhibited a tensile strength of 19.8 MPa, modulus of 0.953 GPa, flexural strength of 28.79 MPa, impact strength of 2 kJ/m², hardness of 38.02 HD, and was used to produce an automobile dashboard.

Abstract

Abstract A novel hybrid composite was developed from natural fibers and the mechanical properties were investigated in this work. The palm sheath and sugarcane bagasse fibres were the natural fibers used and epoxy resin was the matrix. By using compression‐molding machine, various samples were prepared by varying the weight proportions of fibers. The performance of fibers was investigated under untreated and NaOH treated conditions. The tensile properties, flexural properties, hardness, and impact properties were evaluated using ASTM standards. The best sample was determined based on the experimental results. The best sample had the tensile strength of 19.80 ± 0.78 MPa, Young's Modulus of 0.953 ± 0.076 GPa, flexural strength of 28.79 MPa, impact strength of 2 kJ/m 2 , and the hardness value of 38.02 HD. The best sample was used to develop an automobile dashboard to justify its application.