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Effect of fiber length and fiber content on mechanical properties of banana

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 Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites
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Effect of fiber length and fiber content on mechanical properties of banana fiber/epoxy composite
N. Venkateshwaran, A. ElayaPerumal and M. S. Jagatheeshwaran
Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites 2011 30: 1621 originally published online 7 November 2011
DOI: 10.1177/0731684411426810

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Article
Journal of Reinforced Plastics
and Composites

Effect of fiber length and fiber content 30(19) 1621–1627

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DOI: 10.1177/0731684411426810
epoxy composite jrp.sagepub.com

N. Venkateshwaran, A. ElayaPerumal and M. S. Jagatheeshwaran

Abstract
The main factors that influence the properties of composite are fiber length and content. Hence the prediction of
optimum fiber length and content becomes important, so that composite can be prepared with best mechanical prop-
erties. Experiments are carried out as per ASTM standards to find the mechanical properties namely, tensile strength and
modulus, flexural strength and modulus, and impact strength. In addition to mechanical properties, water absorption
capacity of the composite is also studied. Further, fractured surface of the specimen are subjected to morphological study
using scanning electron microscope. The investigation revealed the suitability of banana fiber as an effective reinforce-
ment in epoxy matrix.

Keywords
polymer composites, banana fiber, mechanical properties, scanning electron microscope

carried out some important works using the natural

Introduction
Nowadays, polymers are used everywhere in the day-
to-day life. Plastics found its way when the need for low
weight high strength material became important for
various applications. The research in the field of poly-
mer and polymer-based components has gained wide-
spread recognition owing to its property; however, its
bio-degradability is still a matter of concern. Further,
glass fiber reinforced polymers (GFRP) have become
appealing substitutes for aluminum, concrete, and
steel due to its high strength-to-weight ratio, ease of
handling, and for being corrosion-free. Moreover,
they can also be engineered to get the desired proper-
ties.1 Since large-scale production and fabrication of
glass fiber causes environmental problems and also
health hazards, a suitable alternate which is environ-
mental friendly is the need of the hour. Natural fibers
that are low cost, lightweight and environmental
friendly provide an excellent alternative to glass fiber.
Joshi et al.2 reviewed the life cycle assessment of natural
fiber and glass fiber composite and found that natural
fibers are environmentally superior to glass fiber, and
also reduces the polymer content as reinforcement.
Schmidt and Beyer, Wotzel et al., and Corbiere et al.
fibers as reinforcement in polymer matrix for use in
automobile parts. Schmit and Beyer3 have replaced
the glass fiber polypropylene (PP) with hemp-PP com-
posite for auto-insulation application. Wotzel et al.4
have used hemp-epoxy to replace glass fiber acryloni-
trile butadien–styrene (ABS) for usage in auto-side
panel. Similarly, Corbiere et al.5 replaced glass fiber
PP with Curaua PP for transporting pallet. All these
studies revealed that the natural fiber based polymer
composite has successfully replaced the glass fiber.
Pothan et al.6 studied the effect of fiber length and con-
tent on the mechanical properties of the short banana/
polyester composite. Study shows that 30–40 mm fiber
length and 40% fiber loading provides better mechan-
ical properties. Idicula et al.7 investigated the mechan-
ical performance of banana/sisal hybrid composite and
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Anna University, Chennai, India.
Corresponding author:
N. Venkateshwaran, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Anna
University, Chennai, India
Email: venkatcad@yahoo.com

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1622
the positive hybrid effect for tensile strength was
found to be in the ratio of 4:1 (banana: sisal).
Further, the tensile strength of the composite is
better when banana fiber is used as skin and sisal as
core material. Visco-elastic property of the banana/
sisal (1:1 ratio) hybrid composite was studied by
Idicula et al.8 The study shows that sisal/polyester
composite has maximum damping behavior and high-
est impact strength as compared to banana/polyester
and hybrid composite. Sapuan et al.9 prepared the
composite by reinforcing woven banana fibers with
epoxy matrix. Tensile test result showed that the
woven kind of reinforcement has better strength and
the same was confirmed using Anova technique also.
Venkateshwaran and ElayaPerumal10 reviewed the
various work in the field of banana fiber reinforced
with polymer matrix composite with reference to phys-
ical properties, structure, and application.
Venkateshwaran et al.11 studied the effect of hybridi-
zation on mechanical and water absorption properties.
Investigation revealed that the addition of sisal in
banana fiber composite upto 50% increases the
mechanical properties. Sapuan et al.12 designed and
fabricated the household telephone stand using
woven banana fabric and epoxy as resin. Zainudin
et al.13 studied the thermal stability of banana
pseudo-stem (BPS) filled unplastisized polyvinyl chlo-
ride (UPVC) composites using thermo-gravimetric
analysis. The study revealed that the incorporation
of banana filler decreases the thermal stability of the
composite. Zainudin et al.14 investigated the effect of
banana filler content in the UPVC matrix. The inser-
tion of filler increases the modulus of the composite
and not the tensile and flexural strength. Zainudin
et al.15 studied the effect of temperature on storage
modulus and damping behavior of banana fiber rein-
forced with UPVC. Uma Devi et al.16 studied the
mechanical properties of pineapple leaf fiber rein-
forced with polyester composite. Study found that
optimum mechanical properties are achieved at
30 mm fiber length and 30% fiber content. Dabade
et al.17 investigated the effect of fiber length and
weight ratio on tensile properties of sun hemp and
palmyra/polyester composite. The optimum fiber
length and weight ratio were 30 mm and around
55%, respectively.
From the above literatures, it is evident that the
fiber length and content are the important factors
that affect properties of the composite. Hence in this
work, the effect of fiber length and weight percentage
on the mechanical and water absorption properties of
the banana fiber epoxy composite is investigated.
Further, the fractured surface of the composite are
subjected to fractography study to evaluate the frac-
ture mechanism.
Downloaded from jrp.sagepub.com by Venkateshwaran Narayanan on December 11, 2012
Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites 30(19)
Experimental
Fabrication of composite
A molding box made of well-seasoned teak wood of
dimensions 300  300  3 mm3 is used to make a com-
posite specimen. The top, bottom surfaces of the mold
and the walls are coated with remover and kept for
drying. Fibers of different length (5, 10, 15, and
20 mm) and weight percentage (8, 12, 16, and 20) are
used along with Epoxy (LY556) and Hardener
(HY951) for the preparation of composite.
Testing standards
The tensile strength of the composite was determined
using Tinnus Olsen Universal Testing Machine
(UTM) as per ASTM D 638 standard. The test
speed was maintained at 5 mm/min. In this case,
five specimens were tested with varied fiber length
and fiber weight ratio. The average value of tensile
load at breaking point was calculated. The flexural
strength was determined using the above-mentioned
UTM as per ASTM D 790 procedure. The test
speed was maintained between 1.3 and 1.5 mm/min.
In this case, five samples were tested and the average
flexural strength was reported. The impact strength
of the composite specimen was determined using an
Izod impact tester according to ASTM D 256
Standards. In this case, five specimens were tested
to obtain the average value. Figures 1 to 5 show
the effect of fiber length and weight content on ten-
sile, flexural, and impact properties. Water absorp-
tion behavior of banana/epoxy composites in water
at room temperature was studied as per ASTM
D570 to study the kinetics of water absorption.
The samples were taken out periodically and
18
16
14
5mm Fiber
Tensile Strength (MPa)
Length
12
10mm Fiber
10 Length
8 15mm Fiber
6
Length
4
20mm Fiber
2
Length
0
8 12 16 20
Fiber Weight %
Figure 1. Effect of fiber length and weight percentage on tensile
strength.
Venkateshwaran et al. 1623

0.7 2.3

Im pact Strength J/m

0.6 2.25
5mm Fiber
Young's Modulus (GPa)

5mm Fiber Length

Length 2.2
0.5 10mm Fiber Length
10mm Fiber
2.15 15mm Fiber Length
0.4 Length
20mm Fiber Length
0.3 15mm Fiber 2.1
Length
0.2 2.05
20mm Fiber 8 12 16 20
0.1 Length Fiber Weight %

0
8 12 16 20 Figure 5. Effect of fiber length and weight percentage on
Fiber Weight %
impact strength.

Figure 2. Effect of fiber length and weight percentage on tensile

modulus.

70

60
Flexural Strength (MPa)

50
5mm Fiber Length
40
10mm Fiber Length

15mm Fiber Length

30
20mm Fiber Length
20

10

0
8 12 16 20 Figure 6. Effect of moisture on fiber content; Fiber length –
Fiber Weight %
5 mm.

Figure 3. Effect of fiber length and weight percentage on

flexural strength. weighed immediately, after wiping out the water
from the surface of the sample and using a precise
4-digit balance to find out the content of water
absorbed. All the samples were dried in an oven
until constant weight was reached before immersing
again in the water. The percentage of moisture
absorption was plotted against time (hours) and
10 are shown in Figures 6–13.
9
Flexural Modulus GPa

8
7 5mm Fiber Length
6
5
10mm Fiber Length Scanning electron microscope
15mm Fiber Length
4
3 20mm Fiber Length The fractured surfaces of the specimens were exam-
2 ined directly by scanning electron microscope
1 Hitachi-S3400N. The fractured portions of the sam-
0
8 12 16 20 ples were cut and gold coated over the surface uni-
Fiber Weight % formly for examination. The accelerating voltage used
in this work was 10 kV. Figures 14 to 17 show the
Figure 4. Effect of fiber length and weight percentage on fractured surface characteristics of the composite
flexural modulus. specimen.

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1624 Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites 30(19)

Figure 7. Effect of moisture on fiber content; Fiber length –

Figure 10. Effect of moisture on fiber length; Fiber wt% – 8.
10 mm.

Figure 8. Effect of moisture on fiber content; Fiber length –

15 mm. Figure 11. Effect of moisture on fiber length; Fiber wt% – 12.

Figure 9. Effect of moisture on fiber content; Fiber length –

20 mm. Figure 12. Effect of moisture on fiber length; Fiber wt% – 16.

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Venkateshwaran et al. 1625

Figure 13. Effect of moisture on fiber length; Fiber wt% – 20.

Figure 16. SEM micrograph of fractured specimen under
impact load.

Figure 14. SEM micrograph of tensile fractured specimen.

Figure 17. Micrograph of poor interface.

Results and discussion

Mechanical properties
For the tensile test, composite specimens are made of
fibers of different length (5, 10, 15, and 20 mm) and
weight ratio (8, 12, 16, and 20) were used to calculate
the tensile strength. Figures 1 and 2 show the effect of
fiber length and weight ratios on tensile strength and
modulus of the composite, respectively. Figure 1 shows
that the increase in fiber length and weight ratio
increases the tensile strength and modulus upto
15 mm fiber length and 12% weight ratio. Further
increases cause the properties to decrease because of
lower fiber–matrix adhesion and the quantity of fiber
Figure 15. SEM micrograph of fractured specimen under content being more than matrix. From Figures 1 and 2,
flexural load. the maximum tensile strength and modulus of the

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1626
composite are 16.39 MPa and 0.652 GPa, respectively
for the fiber length of 5 mm and 12% weight ratio.
Flexural strength and modulus for different fiber
lengths (5, 10, 15, and 20 mm) and weight ratios (8,
12, 16, and 20) are shown in Figures 3 and 4, respec-
tively. It was found that the maximum flexural strength
and modulus are 57.53 MPa and 8.92 GPa, respectively
for the fiber length of 15 mm and fiber weight of 16%.
The results of the pendulum impact test are shown in
Figure 5. As the fiber weight and length increases
impact strength also increases upto 16% fiber weight
ratio and then begin to decrease. The maximum impact
strength of 2.25 J/m was found for the fiber length
20 mm and 16% fiber weight.
Although the various fiber lengths and weight per-
centage provides the maximum mechanical properties,
from Figures 10, 12, and 14 it can be concluded that the
optimum fiber length and fiber weight percentage is
15 mm and 16 % respectively as the properties variation
with 15 mm and 16 % are negligible when compared to
the maximum mechanical properties provided by differ-
ent fiber lengths and weight percentage indicated as
above. The mechanical properties provided above are
better than coir18 and palmyra.19
Water absorption study
The effects of fiber length and content on the water
absorption study are shown in Figures 6–13. Figures
6 to 9 show the effect of fiber content on the water
absorption property of the banana/epoxy composite.
It shows that as the fiber content increases the moisture
uptake of the composite also increases. This is due to
the affinity of the banana fiber towards the moisture.
The maximum moisture absorption for the composite is
around 5% for all length and weight percentage of
composite. Figures 10 to 13 show the effect of fiber
length on the water uptake capability of composite. It
indicates that the variation of length (5, 10, 15, and
20 mm) does not have much impact as compared with
the fiber content. The moisture absorption percentage
of banana fiber/epoxy composite seems to be lesser
than hemp fiber20 and flax fiber21 composite.
Fractography study
Micrographs of fractured tensile, flexural, and impact
specimens are shown in Figures 14–17. Figure 14 shows
the micrograph of fractured surface of specimen under
tensile load. It clearly indicates that the failure is due to
fiber pull out phenomenon. Figure 15 shows the frac-
tured surface of the specimen under bending load.
Micrograph also shows the bending of fibers due to
the application of load. Figure 16 shows the failure of
the composite under impact load. Further, it also shows
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Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites 30(19)
the striation occurring on the matrix surface and the
presence of hole due to fiber pull out. Figure 17 shows
the micrograph of 20 mm fiber length and 20% fiber
weight composite specimen. It clearly indicates that
the clustering of fibers result in poor interface with
matrix, and in turn decreases the mechanical properties
of the composite.
Conclusion
Based on the findings of this investigation the following
conclusions can be drawn:
. The optimum fiber length and weight ratio are
15 mm and 16%, respectively for banana fiber/
epoxy composite.
. Moisture absorption percentage of banana/epoxy
composite for all length and weight percentage is
around 5.
. Also, the moisture uptake capability of the compos-
ite is greatly influenced by fiber content than length.
. SEM image shows that increasing the fiber content
above 16% results in poor interface between fiber
and matrix.
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