Analysis of Mechanical Properties of Jute Epoxy Composite with Cenosphere Filler

The present work is involved with the evaluation of the mechanical, water absorption and thermal properties of woven jute reinforced composites with addition of different weight percentage of cenosphere (0wt. %, 5wt. % and 10wt. %) as a filler material. The specimens are prepared by hand lay-up technique and tested for different properties conforming the ASTM standards. Fly ash is an industrial waste generated at thermal power plant during burning of pulverized coal. Cenosphere is the hollow spherical particles extracted from the fly ash. It is an environmental pollutant having mixtures of metal oxides and it requires its disposal and utilization. Hence the incorporation of cenosphere in bio- reinforced composite would result in converting an industrial waste into a value added composite material. It is observed that addition of 5wt. % filler increases the tensile, flexural, interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) and hardness of the jute-epoxy composite. At 10wt. % of filler addition, the tensile strength is reduced nearly 7.5% , flexural strength by approximately 20% from non-filler loading composites. Similarly in the case of ILSS, it is reduced to 19.5% and for microhardness, it is reduced to 17.4%. Impact strength is decrease in addition of cenosphere filler. Addition of cenosphere filler into jute fibre, the water absorption properties and thermal conductivity values of composites are reduced.