Investigation of mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties of novel Acacia arabica fiber polyester hybrid composites

• Published in: Polymer composites Vol. 43; no. 5; pp. 2724 - 2735
• Main Authors: Gupta, Manoj Kumar, Manimaran, Parthasarathy, Suresha, Bheemappa, Shadrach Jeya sekaran, Abraham Sunder Singh, Marichelvam, Mariappan Kadarkarai Nadar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-05-2022; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Acacia arabica; Adhesive strength; Bearing capacity; Bend strength; Bending modulus; Damping; dynamic mechanical analysis; Dynamic mechanical properties; Fillers; Flour; Fly ash; Glass transition temperature; Hardness; Hybrid composites; Interfacial shear strength; Investigations; Loss modulus; Mechanical properties; Mechanical tests; Polyesters; SEM; Shear strength; Storage modulus; Thermal stability; wood flour
• ISSN: 0272-8397; 1548-0569
• DOI: 10.1002/pc.26569

This study investigated the effects of fly ash and wood flour fillers on mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties (DMP) of Acacia arabica fiber (AAF) reinforced polyester hybrid composites. Mechanical properties such as hardness, tensile, flexural and impact strengths were studied. The experimental data of mechanical tests show that wood flour marginally enhanced the bending strength and modulus while fly ash filler performed 17% and 39% increase in hardness and interfacial shear strength of AAF/polyester hybrid composite. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis proves that good adhesion present between the fibers and matrix. Dynamic mechanical properties such as storage modulus (E′), loss modulus (E″), Damping (Tanδ) and glass transition temperature (Tg) of prepared composite samples were investigated using the dynamic mechanical analyzer. The fly ash filler composite has reported 5% increase in the maximum value of Tg while the wood flour showed 17% increase in peak height of Tanδ curve. The experimental results indicated that the AAF with wood flour filler composite has the highest thermal stability and load bearing capacity due to strong adhesion between the fiber, filler and matrix which leads to the formation of superior performing hybrid composites for potential applications in various manufacturing industries.