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2018-28-0049 Published 09 Jul 2018
Evaluation on Properties of Industrial Workers
Safety Helmet Using Natural Hybrid Composite
Thanikachalam J, Vasiraja N, and Vignesh V Mepco Schlenk Engineering College
Citation: Thanikachalam, J., Vasiraja, N., and Vignesh, V., “Evaluation on Properties of Industrial Workers Safety Helmet Using Natural
Hybrid Composite,” SAE Technical Paper 2018-28-0049, 2018, doi:10.4271/2018-28-0049.
Abstract
I
n this project work, composites were prepared by using
matrix method in which good adhesion was generated by
a combination of hand layup method. This experiment
was conducted to evaluate the suitability of natural fiber
composites using luffa fiber, palm fiber and bamboo fiber
and to fabricate the safety helmet by combining these three
fibers. Initially these fibers were treated in sodium hydroxide
solution in order to improve fiber interfacial bonding.
Generally, composites that contain treated fiber have a higher
tensile modulus and greater f lexural modulus than do
Introduction
N
owadays, modern technology requires material, with
new combinations, which exhibits superior properties
than the individual’s natural fibers. Interest in natural
fibers as composite reinforcements had grown in recent years.
A survey of recent literature shows a significant increase in
the number of articles and patents relating to the use of natural
fibers. Natural fibers are reported to have advantages of lower
cost and better stiffness per unit weight compared to glass
fiber [1]. Natural fibers like palm fibers provides new hope for
researchers to compete with hazardous synthetic fibers with
its excellent chemical and physical properties This work inves-
tigates the extraction of various fibers that are available from
various portions of the palm tree and to characterize its
chemical and physical properties. Also, the results were
compared with other natural fibers [2]. From thousand years,
humans had used composites for various applications because
of their enhanced properties. In day to day life, various
components are made up of plastics and metals. But these
materials create environmental problems. Components made
from metals are heavy. Hence, alternative materials for these
materials with enhanced desired properties are required
Composites have various desired properties such as strength,
stiffness, corrosion resistance [3]. Composite materials seems
largely from their higher specific strength, stiffness and fatigue
characteristics, which enables structural design to be more
versatile. By definition, composite materials consist of two or
more constituents with physically separable phases. However,
only when the composite phase materials have notably
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untreated fiber composites. Here using 40% fibers and 60%
matrix for fabricating natural composites and to investigate
its tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength and
hardness strength. It was observed that the effects of rein-
forcing epoxy resin matrix with the fibers caused the
composites to be more flexible and easily deform due to high
strain values and reduction of high resonant amplitude. In
the present study, an attempt has been made to reinforce,
epoxy resin matrix with this proportion of these natural
fibers and to characterize its mechanical performances to
evaluate their suitability for helmet applications.
different physical properties it was recognized as being a
composite material. Composites are materials that comprise
strong load carrying material (known as reinforcement)
imbedded in weaker material (known as matrix) Reinforcement
provides strength and rigidity, helping to support structural
load. The matrix or binder (organic or inorganic) maintains
the position and orientation of the reinforcement [4]. The
natural fibers in polymer are biodegradable and possess quali-
ties similar to synthetic fibers. Composite materials with
polymer matrices and natural fibers are increasingly regarded
as an alternative to material replacement for various applica-
tions [5]. The natural fibers such as sisal, banana and jute lead
to a reduction of the component’s weight and furthermore to
a significant improvement of specific properties like impact
strength, compression strength. One of the major fields of
application for such materials can be  found in structural
components manufacturing of construction helmets [6]. The
coconut fiber known as the coir fiber were used as the rein-
forcement while epoxy resin served as the matrix. The impact
strength showed by specimen E (70% coir fiber in 28% resin),
which was 8.733 J/mm2 clearly implies that the composite
material can be used for the production of military protective
helmets [7]. The use of natural resources such as Sisal fibre
and Papaya stem fibers, these fibers are high strength, light
and easily with stand heat and salt water. This material having
higher load carrying capacity than that of existing Acrylonitrile
butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic helmet [8]. The natural fibers
such as coconut and banana fiber was used to increase the
strength of industrial helmet by making the modified material
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2 Evaluation on Properties of Industrial Workers Safety Helmet Using Natural Hybrid Composite

in existing one. Here natural fiber and epoxy resin were used  FIGURE 2   Palm Fiber
as raw material to fabricate the helmet natural fibers using
coconut and banana fiber. The Strength of industrial helmet
was increased by making the modified material in existing
one [9]. The palm kernel fiber and palm kernel shell are some

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of the most important natural reinforcements produced in
Nigeria. It was used as a reinforcement in polymer matrix
composite to investigate the suitability for the production of
a safety helmet [10].
In the present study, an attempt has been made to rein-
force, epoxy resin matrix with multiple natural fibers (luffa,
 FIGURE 3   Bamboo Fiber
palm and bamboo fibers) and to characterize its mechanical
performances to evaluate their suitability for the industrial
workers safety helmet applications. Attempt was made to rein-
force these natural fibers into epoxy matrix in order to develop
a light and strong material to fabricate a safety helmet.

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Experimental Study
 FIGURE 4   Epoxy Resin & Hardener
Materials Used
The following materials used in this project are:
•• Luffa fiber.

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•• Palm fiber.
•• Bamboo fiber.
•• Epoxy resin (LY 556).
•• Hardener (HY 951). cleaned with water after soaking for two weeks. The fibers
•• Sodium hydroxide solution. were further dried in natural sunlight to remove moisture
content and long uniform fibers were obtained.

Luffa Fiber Luffa is one of the vegetable which originated
from Luffa cylindrica, commonly used as the sponge gourd,
luffa, vegetable sponge, bath sponge or dish cloth gourd. It is
a member of cucurbitaceous family. Luffa sponge is a lignocel-
luloses material composed mainly of Cellulose, hemicelluloses
and lignin the fibers are composed of 60% cellulose, 30%
hemicellulose and 10% lignin. The luffa fibers are smooth and
cylindrical in shape.
Palm Fiber The palm fibers were available at different parts
of Tamil Nadu. It was obtained from various parts of the palm
tree and were extracted either by retting in water and/or by
mechanical processing or hand picking. The fibers were
 FIGURE 1   (a) Luffa cylindrica (b) Luffa fiber mat
Bamboo Fiber Bamboo fibers are the most widely used and
least expensive among all fibers. This fiber consisted of extremely
fine fibers and commonly used as an insulating material. The
bamboo fiber has some advantages for safety helmet applica-
tions requiring very high strength and low weight.
Epoxy Resin Epoxy resin (LY 556) having the following
outstanding properties has been used outstanding adhesion
to different materials. It has abundant strength and toughness.
It is highly resistive to chemical attack and moisture. It also
contains brilliant mechanical and electrical properties.
Hardener In the present work Hardener (HY 951) is used.
This has the viscosity of 10-20 poise at 250 °C.
Mechanical Properties of Fibers The Mechanical
properties of fibers are given in the Table 1

TABLE 1  Properties of fibers

Properties Luffa Fiber Palm Fiber Bamboo Fiber

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Density (kg/m3) 0.920 × 103 1.03 × 103 1.1 × 103

Flexural Modulus (GPa) 18 12.5-17.5 2-5
Tensile Strength (MPa) 62 68 54
Young’s Modulus (GPa) 3.4 3.774 3.48
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Evaluation on Properties of Industrial Workers Safety Helmet Using Natural Hybrid Composite 3

Fabrication of Composite  FIGURE 7   (a) Mould (b) Luffa fiber composite (c) Palm fiber
composite (d) Bamboo fiber composite

Chemical Treatment of Fibers

The natural fibers were washed with distilled water to
remove the contaminants adhering on it. Thereafter, they
were dried for 12 h at room temperature and then the fibers
were stored. Then the fibers were soaked in 2% NaOH
solution for periods of 90 minutes. The treated fibers were
then washed several times with distilled water. Traces of
NaOH, remaining on the fibers were neutralized with 2%
sulphuric acid. The fibers were washed again with distilled
water and then dried.

Hand Lay-Up Method

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It is one of the simplest method in fabricating the compos-
ites. The requirement for this method is also minimal. The
processing steps are quite simple. First of all, the moulds
of dimensions 300 × 300 × 5 mm were prepared. As per
volume fraction of fiber, fibers were weighed. Epoxy and
hardener are mixed properly in the ratio of 10:1 at room
temperature. Then the silicone gel or wax was applied on
the mould surface to avoid the sticking of resin to the
Mechanical Testing and
surface. Thin plastic sheets were placed at the top and
bottom of the mould plate to get good surface finish of the
Results
product. The Fiber and epoxy mixture was poured The luffa, palm and bamboo composites were tested by Universal
uniformly on to the mould and excess amount of epoxy Testing machine, hardness testing machine, impact testing
mixture was removed. The leveling was done using roller machine. Its helps to identify the strength of the composites.
and the roller should be moved under a mild pressure. After The test specimens were cut according to the ASTM Standards.
the preparation, the mould was closed and the composite
material was pressed uniformly for 24 hours for curing at
room temperature. Once the Composites are dried, it was ASTM Standards
separated from the mould. The ASTM standard dimensions for following tests are given
below in Table 2.

 FIGURE 5   Fibers washed in Distilled water

Tensile Test
Tensile testing, also known as tension testing was used to
predict how a material will react under normal forces. The
test was conducted in the UTM machine. After clamping the
test specimen in the UTM the test was carried out by applying
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the gradual load. As the load increases, fracture occurred

in the gauge length position of the test specimen. Once it
reaches the ultimate load the test specimen would broke and
result of the specimen is obtained. The results obtained from
tensile test are given below in graph.
The results obtained from tensile test are given below in
 FIGURE 6   Fibers treated in NaOH solution Table 3.

TABLE 2  ASTM Standard size for testing

S. No. Test Standard Description Dimensions (mm)

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1 Tensile ASTM D3090 140 × 25 × 5

2 Flexural ASTM D790 140 × 25 × 5
3 Impact ASTM D256 100 × 10 × 5
4 Hardness ASTM D785 140 × 25 × 5
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4 Evaluation on Properties of Industrial Workers Safety Helmet Using Natural Hybrid Composite

 FIGURE 8   Tensile test curves for (a) Luffa composite (b) TABLE 4  Flexural test results
Palm composite (c) Bamboo composite
S. No. Composite Material Flexural Strength (N)

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1 Luffa 136.451
2 Palm 132.651
3 Bamboo 132.541

 FIGURE 9   Flexural test curves for (a) Luffa composite (b)

Palm composite (c) Bamboo composite.

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The test carried out on 10kN universal testing machine.
The results obtained that the Palm fiber composite have better
tensile strength while comparing to luffa and bamboo
fiber composites.
Flexural Test
Flexural tests are generally used to determine the flexural
modulus or flexural strength of a material. The test was
conducted on the universal testing machine. The specimen
was freely supported by a beam and the load was applied in
TABLE 3  Tensile test results
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the middle of the specimen. These values can be  used to
evaluate the sample materials ability to withstand flexure or
bending forces. The results obtained from flexural test are
given below in graph.
The results obtained from flexural test are given below in
Table 4.
The results obtained that the luffa fiber composite have
better flexural strength while comparing to palm and bamboo
fiber composites.
Impact Test
An impact test is a dynamic test in which a selected specimen
which is usually notched is struck and broken by a single blow

S. No. Composite Material Tensile Strength (kN)

in a specially designed machine. Using an impact machine,
1 Luffa 1.836
the energy absorbed while breaking the specimen can
2 Palm 2.147 be measured. The results obtained from Impact test are given
3 Bamboo 1.460 below in Table 5.
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Evaluation on Properties of Industrial Workers Safety Helmet Using Natural Hybrid Composite 5

TABLE 5  Impact test results  FIGURE 10   (a) Palm-Luffa-Bamboo (P-L-B) hybrid
composite. (b) Luffa-Palm-Bamboo (L-P-B) hybrid composite.
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S. No. Composite Material Impact Strength (J)

1 Luffa 2.7
2 Palm 2.9
3 Bamboo 2.3

TABLE 6  Hardness test results

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Luffa Palm Bamboo
S. No. Location Composite Composite Composite
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1 1 28 25 23
2 2 27 26 24
3 3 27 25 22
Average (HV) 28 26 23 Hybrid Composite 1-Palm (17%) - Luffa (17%) - Bamboo
(6%) - Matrix (60%)
Hybrid Composite 2 -Luffa (15%) - Palm (15%) - Bamboo
TABLE 7  Comparison of results
(10%) - Matrix (60%)
Luffa Palm Bamboo Based on the analysis the palm and luffa fiber got a better
Tests Composite Composite Composite impact strength than the bamboo fiber. Here the palm fiber
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Tensile Strength (kN) 1.836 2.147 1.460 and the luffa fiber were used as a top layer in these two
Flexural Strength (N) 136.451 132.651 132.541 composites and bamboo fiber was used as a third layer in both
Impact Strength (J) 2.7 2.9 2.3 composites. These composites were fabricated by using hand-
Hardness (HV) 28 26 23
lay-up method.

The results obtained that the palm fiber composite have

better impact strength while comparing to luffa and bamboo Mechanical Testing and
fiber composites.
Results for Hybrid
Hardness Test Composites
The results obtained from Hardness value at 0.5 kg load are The hybrid composites were tested by Universal Testing
given below in Table 6. machine, hardness testing machine, impact testing machine.
The results obtained that that the luffa fiber composite
have better hardness value while comparing to palm and  FIGURE 11   Tensile test curves for (a) Palm-Luffa-Bamboo
bamboo fiber composites. hybrid composite (b) Luffa-Palm-Bamboo hybrid composite

Comparison of Results
The results obtained from the all tests are compared in the
Table 7 below.

Summary of Results
From all above characterization it was concluded that the palm
and luffa fiber composites having better impact strength than
bamboo fiber and becomes more efficient for binding with
matrix for fabricating hybrid composites and also for the fabri-
cation of helmet. Hence, it is having good advantages.

Fabrication of Hybrid
Composites
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The two hybrid composites were fabricated based on the result.

Here the composites were made by three layers. They are
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6 Evaluation on Properties of Industrial Workers Safety Helmet Using Natural Hybrid Composite

TABLE 8  Tensile test results for hybrid composites TABLE 9  Flexural test results for hybrid composites

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© SAE International
S. No. Composite Material Tensile Strength (kN) S. No. Composite Material Flexural Strength (N)
1 P-L-B 2.412 1 P-L-B 256
2 L-P-B 2.361 2 L-P-B 273

It helps to identify the strength of the composites. The TABLE 10  Impact test results for hybrid composites

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following tests are carried out by using above machines. The
S. No. Composite Material Impact Strength (J)
test specimens were cut according to the ASTM Standards.
1 P-L-B 6.5
2 L-P-B 6.8
Tensile Test
The tensile test procedure is already mentioned above. The TABLE 11  Hardness test results for hybrid composites
results obtained from the tensile test for hybrid composites
S. No. Location P-L-B Composite L-P-B Composite
are given below in graph.

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1 1 48 49
The results obtained from the tensile test for hybrid
composite are given below in Table 8. 2 2 46 47
The test carried out on 10kN universal testing machine. 3 3 47 48
The results obtained that the P-L-B hybrid composite have Average (HV) 47 48
better tensile strength while comparing to L-P-B
hybrid composite.
TABLE 12  Comparison of hybrid composite results

Flexural Test Tests P-L-B L-P-B

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Tensile Strength (kN) 2.412 2.361
The flexural test procedure is already mentioned above. The Flexural Strength (N) 256 273
results obtained from the flexural test for hybrid composites Impact Strength (J) 6.5 6.8
are given below in graph. Hardness (HV) 47 48
The results obtained from the flexural test for hybrid
composites are given below in Table 9.
The results obtained that the L-P-B hybrid composite have
better f lexural strength while comparing to P-L-B Impact Test
hybrid composite. The results obtained from Impact test for hybrid composites
are given below in Table 10.
 FIGURE 12   Flexural test curves for (a) Palm-Luffa-Bamboo The results obtained that the L-P-B hybrid composite have
hybrid composite (b) Luffa-Palm-Bamboo hybrid composite better impact strength while comparing to P-L-B
hybrid composite.

Hardness Test
The results obtained from Hardness value at 0.5 kg load for
hybrid composites are given below in Table 11.
The results obtained that that the L-P-B hybrid composite
have better hardness value while comparing to P-L-B
hybrid composite.

Comparison of Hybrid
Composite Results
The results obtained from the two hybrid composites are
compared below in the Table 12.

Conclusion
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Based on this research on these fabricated composites palm

fiber and luffa fiber gives better impact strength and these
fibers were used as a top layer for fabricating two hybrid
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Evaluation on Properties of Industrial Workers Safety Helmet Using Natural Hybrid Composite 7

composites. By testing these two hybrid composites Luffa-
Palm-Bamboo hybrid composite(L-P-B) got the better
mechanical properties. Since, luffa is in a form of mat like
structure it got better impact strength. From all above char-
acterization it is concluded that the Luffa-Palm-Bamboo(L-P-B)
layers is used for fabricating the safety helmet.
Future Work
In the Future work, Safety helmet will be fabricated by using
these following layers Luffa-Palm-Bamboo (L-P-B) fibers.
Then, the analysis and testing will be done for the fabricated
safety helmet.
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