Experimental Testing and Evaluation of Coconut Coir/Rice Husk Fiber Reinforced with Polymer Composites

Abstract

Coconut coir fiber blended with rice husk reinforced in polyester composites manufactured by hand layup method shows better properties than the other natural fibers and extended many applications due to their low weight, high strength, and anti-corrosive nature. In this paper, the effect of chemically treated fibers (silane) on mechanical properties with different volume fractions 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30% is reported. Chemically treated natural fibers show better mechanical properties than the untreated fibers due to removal of the waxy layer on the fiber and improvement of the interfacial bond between the fibers and polyester; after conducting all the treatments, it is proved that silane-treated fibers give better results than the other chemical treatments. The mechanical performance of the composite under dry and wet conditions and water absorption behavior of the composite are investigated by using computerized universal testing machine. The results finally concluded that 5% volume fraction composites play the best performance than the other ones because of their bonding strength and dispersion in the structure of the matrix.