Comprehensive Characterization of Date Palm Petiole Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites: Effect of Fiber Treatment and Loading on Various Properties

This research is based on evaluation of fiber treatment and concentration on physical (density), mechanical (tensile strength, Young' modulus, flexural, impact strength) and thermal properties of untreated and treated date-palm petiole fiber reinforced epoxy composites. For these purpose, composites with varying weight % (i.e., 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%) of untreated and acrylic acid treated date palm petiole fibers (DPP) were included in epoxy resin using hand lay-up technique. The experimental values revealed that composite with 20 wt% fiber concentration shows good tensile strength, Young's modulus, impact strength, and flexural strength, being these values 42.07MPa, 2.16 GPa, 3.23 kJ/m(2), and 59.18 MPa, respectively. Finally, the analyses of fracture surface due to delamination, pull-out of the fibers and percentage of voids have been verified using scanning electron microscope.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the effects of different treatment methods and concentrations on the physical, mechanical, and thermal properties of untreated and treated date-palm petiole fiber reinforced epoxy composites. The composite with 20% fiber concentration exhibited good overall performance in terms of tensile strength, Young's modulus, impact strength, and flexural strength.