Effect of Curing Temperature on Mechanical Properties of Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites

Nowadays, growing environmental concerns have led many researchers to work in the area of natural fiber reinforced polymer composites. In this work, jute fiber has been used as reinforcement and epoxy as matrix material to develop partially biodegradable green composite with the help of hand layup followed by compression molding technique. The effect of curing temperature ranging from 80 degrees C to 130 degrees C on different samples was investigated for various mechanical properties. Results obtained from the various tests indicate that with increase in curing temperature, impact strength decreases, but tensile and flexural strength increases and decreases thereafter attaining the maximum value at 100 degrees C between aforementioned temperature range. The trend obtained for mechanical properties is further justified through the study of morphology with scanning electron microscopy, and optimum curing temperature has been suggested.