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Due to the changing era and development in technology the use of having a good material is
increasing day by day. Here is where composites come into play. Basically the composites are
the materials which are formed from two or more combining materials. Composites are lighter
than aluminum structures. There are two phases of composite materials reinforced and matrix
phase. Reinforcement phase in composite can be in form of fibers and particles. The matrix
phase materials are found in continuous. Matrix basically binds the fiber reinforced composite
and matrix can be polymer ,metal, ceramic etc.
So composites can also be reinforced to increase the all-round mechanical properties of matrix
and basically gives more power to composites.
Based upon the matrix composites material can be divided into:
• Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMC)
• Metal Matrix Composites (MMC)
• Polymer Matrix Composites (PMC)
Polymer matrix composites is the commonly used matrix composites , because of the simple
fact that it is easy to manufacture which leads to less investment and it has very good strength
which is must to have in a composite.
PMC can be divided into:
1) Thermoplastic Polymer
2) Thermosetting Polymer
Thermoplastic polymer is the polymer which can be melted and recasted as many time you
want. Various examples of thermoplastics are polyethylene, PVC, and nylon.
Since composites are a combination of 2 or more materials they can showcase properties that are
not otherwise exhibited by a natural material thus in case of highly specific needs the use of
composites is a necessity
Basically glass fibers are reinforced with plastic matrices to form systematic composites and to
form determined shaped compounds. Glass-fiber plastic composite materials have the following
commendable characteristic:
• Smooth to manufacture.
Thus composites is being used to full fill needs that cannot be full-filled by naturally available
materials.
1.3 Natural fiber composite
Natural Fibers are also being used as reinforcing material in composites to increase their
strength. Natural Fibers have good thermal properties, low density and low cost. These fibers are
easily available.
Efforts was been made to develop eco friendly and bio degradable composites for the future
owing to the recent change in climate change and increase concern regarding climate change
while has lead to a enlarge in the use of natural materials in composites to reduce carbon
emissions.
Though they have few problems like poor adaptability problems between fiber and matrix and
relatively peak water absorption.
1) Mineral Fiber
2) Animal fiber
3) Plant fiber
There are many uses of natural fiber reinforced polymer composite like they are being in use of
automobile industries, railways and in our daily use like suitcases etc, in furniture also.
Reinforcement in polymer is synthetic or natural depending upon the application we are making
it for. Synthetic fibers are basically the man-made fibers made by using chemical synthesis.
Mostly natural fibers are used not synthetic because synthetic fibers are costly.
Fig 1.1:Types of natural fibers
It has been seen in recent years that there has been a rise in the use of natural fiber composite
plates in various engineering applications. Various natural fiber based composites like coconut
fiber, human hair fiber , bagasse , jute , hemp has received great application in automobiles,
construction and being used as structural components. They are also finding use in electrical and
aerospace industry.
The reason for its wide spread application include-
Low cost
Biodegradability
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 A study on hair fiber reinforced plate
Human hair is a fiber in which keratin protein constitutes 91 % of it which is primarily alpha-
helix structure and is made up of long chain amino acids. There are exceptionally good
properties of human hair like its slow degradation of hair, good chemical composition with any
other material, high lastingness , heat protection, elastic recovery and distinctive interlinkage
with water and oils, which guides us to different types of uses. By adding human fibers to
concrete it improves various properties of concrete like lastingness , compressive strength etc.
Polymer can be in the form of thermoplastic or thermosetting. The thermosetting polymer which
we are using is epoxy and it is widely used. The epoxy is the most ordinarily used polymer due
to it's vast attachment to broad mixture of filaments, widespread mechanical and electrical
properties moreover considerable implementation at lifted temperatures.
1. It has a extreme flexibility or tensile strength which is identical to the same elasticity of
copper wire.
3. It is available easily.
It is to be understood that hair fiber is generally regarded as waste and winds up in the sewage
system thus manufacturing of composite plates using hair fiber helps us using a resource which
would otherwise go to waste mixing hair fiber with a fiber of another kind say in our case
bagasse can help make composite plates with reasonable strength and use resources which would
otherwise go to waste.Though for the use of hair fiber composite plates to become mainstream
further research and testing is required.
2.2 A study on Sugarcane bagasse fiber-reinforced composite
Sugarcane bagasse fiber-reinforced composites are a great composite alternative for glass fiber
composite and have great specific mechanical properties such as stiffness and flexibility.
Another thing about bagasse is that is can be used to reinforce bio composite since it is also
biodegradable and does not compromise on a major advantage of natural fiber composites that is
reduced environmental effect.
FINDINGS (CASE STUDY)
Composites plate Formation percentage of materials
Table 3.1:Composite plate making with different compositions of epoxy and hair fiber length
Reference No-1
3.1 Tensile strength testing (Reference No- 1)
The property of composite depend on a great deal of variable due to the phase nature of a
composite some of then being fiber length, resin wt % etc. To test for tensile strength the
composite plate is connected on both side and a load is applied. Experimental setup is shown
below in the figure(fig3.1 and fig 3.2).
Reference no-6
Reference no-6
“Hybrid composites is that the most favorable and well-designed material in which a filler
materials or reinforcement is incorporated during a blend of two similar or dissimilar
polymer matricesor more than one filling constituents are existing during a particular
polymer resin , or both the methods are united.”AU - Alagesan, Praveen Kumar.
The material blend being used will be influenced by the actual application requirements of
the composite and the loading , stress and temperature conditions under which the composite
is to be applied .
The use of natural fiber as reinforcement in polymer matrix is of great importance due to it’s
ability in reducing carbon footprint and environmental impact and biodegradability . A
hybrid composite is combination of two or more fibers in which one fiber compensates for a
deficiency of property of the other.It is to be understood that of the few natural fiber
composites materials available in the market there has been intensive research on a few and
most of the technologies are still in the development and research phase. There are various
places in automobile where natural fiber composite is used . Plastic/wood fiber composites
have wide applications in decks, docks, window frames and molded panel components use in
automobile frame.
CONCLUSION
5.1 Conclusion
The investigation done on the tensile strength of human hair fiber and sugarcane bagasse
reinforced composites gives us the following conclusions:
It is possible to make composite plate for a wide variety of loading conditions with
variation in fiber length
The main parameters that determine a plates properties are the fibers length and resin and
fiber wt %
The fiber percentage in bagasse is inversely proportional to the tensile strength and
bending strength upto a degree.
Taking into consideration the wide variety in properties available in natural fiber composites it
truly will be the material of the future and since there is limited study done on hybrid natural
fiber composites we have till now established the tensile strength values for hair and sugarcane
bagasse fiber reinforced composite now subsequently we will work on the carryover of
properties of individual when put in a hybrid composite to establish optimal value of tensile
strength when the following two natural fibers are mixed thus analyzing the trend of change of
tensile strength in a hybrid natural fiber composite plate with the variation in the fiber percentage
for a given epoxy resin percentage and looking for a trend in carryover of property in case of hair
and bagasse.
REFERENCES
1. http://ethesis.nitrkl.ac.in/5532/1/E-THESIS_14.pdf
2. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304904238_Human_Hair_A
_Biodegradable_Composite_Fiber-A_Review
3. http://www.set-science.com/manage/uploads/ISAS2018-
Winter_0039/SETSCI_ISAS2018-Winter_0039_00166.pdf
4. Peças, P.; Carvalho, H.; Salman, H.; Leite, M. Natural Fibre Composites and
Their Applications: A Review. J. Compos. Sci. 2018, 2, 66
5. Alagesan, P.K. (2020). Recent Advances of Hybrid Fiber Composites for Various
Applications. In Hybrid Fiber Composites (eds A. Khan, S.M. Rangappa, M.
Jawaid, S. Siengchin and A.M. Asiri)