Evaluation of mechanical properties of hybrid rootfiber reinforced polymer composites

The present work focuses on the study of mechanical properties of hybrid Natural Root Fiber Reinforced Polymer (NRFRP). In this work, Boerhavia Diffusa root along with Luffa fiber are used as reinforcements in epoxy resin matrix. This hybrid NRFRP composite have been developed by hand lay-up technique with 75 wt. % of epoxy resin, 18.75 wt. % of Luffa fiber and 6.25 wt. % of Boerhavia Diffusa root. The mechanical properties such as tensile, compressive and flexural strengths are evaluated as 4.52MPa, 72.95MPa and 21.57MPa respectively. The characterization of the NRFRP was done by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The results show that the NRFRP composite possess high compressive strength when compared to other combinations of reinforcement used along with luffa fiber in polymer matrix composite materials. (c) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.