Experimental Investigation on the Mechanical Properties of Hybrid Composites Made with Banyan and Peepal Fibers

Industries demand a material with better strength and light weight for various applications. Natural composites are fulfilling the needs of industries partially. The purpose of the present research is to develop a new composite material with light weight and better strength. In this research, hybrid composites were fabricated by conventional hand layup method using natural fibers such as banyan and peepal. Totally, four composites were manufactured namely banyan (Epoxy: banyan: 70 wt%: 30 wt %), peepal (Epoxy: peepal: 70 wt%: 30 wt %), BPB (Epoxy: banyan: peepal: 70 wt%: 20 wt%: 10 wt %) and PBP (Epoxy: banyan: peepal: 70 wt%: 10 wt%: 20 wt %). Density and porosity of the composites were determined and the results showed that BPB composite exhibited a least density. Further, all the composites displayed the maximum porosity percentage of 5. Moreover, the mechanical properties like tensile, flexural and impact strengths were tested. The hybrid composite BPB showed 2.7%, 4.9% and 13.5% increase in tensile, flexural and impact strength respectively, compared to PBP composite. Furthermore, water absorption study was conducted and the results revealed that BPB composite absorbed less amount of water (9%) at the immersion time of 12 hours. Hence, it is suggested from the present investigation that the BPB hybrid composite could be a suitable candidate for the industrial applications with better mechanical properties and light weight.

Automated summary

In this study, a new composite material with light weight and better strength was developed by fabricating hybrid composites using natural fibers. The mechanical properties and water absorption of the composites were tested, and the results showed that the BPB composite exhibited the best performance in terms of strength and water absorption. Therefore, the BPB hybrid composite could be a suitable choice for industrial applications.