Effect of rope mat and random orientation on mechanical and thermal properties of banana ribbon-reinforced polyester composites and its application

The present work deals with the characterization of banana ribbon, a new natural fiber, and the effect of rope mat and random orientation on the mechanical and thermal properties of banana ribbon-reinforced polyester composites. Of all the fabricated composites, the banana ribbon rope mat composites showed improved mechanical and thermal properties compared to randomly oriented composites and other natural fiber composites. The surface morphologies of fractured mechanical testing samples were studied by scanning electron microscope to probe the fiber-matrix interaction. Furthermore, the mat composites are used to fabricate windshield of four wheelers and mudguard of two wheelers.