Investigation Of Impact Strength And Energy Absorbing Capacity Of Composite Material For Frontal Impact Of A Vehicle

Abstract

Natural fibres have the potential to improve the physical properties of composites, besides, they are attractive to researchers due to their properties of light weight, low cost, non-toxic, ease of use, availability, Biodegradability etc. Various Researches are available on bamboo, banana and sisal fibres which generally exhibit better mechanical properties compared to other natural fibres. Several studies have reported a significant increase in properties when composites are made using natural fibers/synthetic fibers. Hence the scope in the research is identified as the combination of two natural fibers composite bonded with epoxy resin to form a Hybrid natural fiber composite. The main objectives of the research work are to experimentally investigate the Impact strength and Energy absorption capacity, the mechanical properties of tensile, flexural and hardness of Bamboo/Areca, Banana/Areca and Sisal/Areca fiber reinforced composites and determine the influence of fillers of Al2O3 and TiO2 in properties. In this Research work, Bamboo-Areca, Banana-Areca and Sisal Areca fiber reinforced hybrid composite is manufactured using hand layup technique. The fibers were alkalized using NaOH for removal of dirt and impurities. The optimized combination of fibers along with fillers is selected with respect to Taguchi analysis and Anova for Impact strength of material. The optimized composition is determined using Taguchi Analysis for orthogonal L9 array. Experimental Investigation of Tensile, Flexural, physical and chemical properties of materials was followed by impact strength and energy absorbing capacity of materials. Drop weight damage resistance test is conducted for all the materials and damage depth is determined. It has been observed that, Sisal fiber group of composites posed maximum impact strength and energy absorption capacity as that of other materials. The introduction of filler particles of Al2O3 and TiO2. influences the mechanical properties of materials. newline