Rajesh Ghosh et al.

/ (IJAEST) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES

Vol No. 4, Issue No. 1, 089 - 091

Effect of fibre volume fraction on the tensile strength

of Banana fibre reinforced vinyl ester resin
composites

Rajesh Ghosh* G. Reena

Assistant Professor, System Analyst, Onsite ETL Coordinator,
Department of Mechanical Engineering Mahindra Satyam, Singapore.
Gitam University,Visakhapatnam, India g.reena0001@gmail.com
rajesh_ghosh@yahoo.com
Bh.Lakshmipathi Raju
Dr. A. Rama Krishna Assistant Professor,
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering,

T
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gitam University, India.
Andhra University, India. bhlpr19@rediffmail.com
ramakrishna_a@yahoo.com

Abstract—Natural fibre reinforced polymer composites are being
ES
worked upon for various engineering applications. Various
natural fibres such as jute, sisal, palm, coir and banana are used
as reinforcements. In this paper, banana fibres have been used as
reinforcement in Vinyl ester resin matrix. The influence of
different volume fraction of the fibres in the composite is studied.
It is seen that with the increase in the fibre fraction, the tensile
strength have increased after an initial dip. At 35% of fibre
volume fraction, an increase of 38.6% in tensile strength is noted.
The specific tensile strength increased by 65%. With increase in
mechanical properties it can be deduced that banana fibre can be
reliably reinforced with vinyl ester resin which may be used in
engineering utilities.
A
Keywords- fibre volume; banana; vinyl ester; composites;
mechanical properties;
I. INTRODUCTION
Much work is done in the application of natural fibre as
reinforcement in polymer composites. In India, banana is
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Thermoset resin commonly used in engineering
applications is epoxy. Epoxy has better mechanical properties
but it is costly. The thermoplastics offer recycling possibilities
whereas the thermosets achieve improved mechanical
properties [6]. Polyester resins are low cost materials, but have
inferior mechanical properties. Vinyl ester resins make a
compromise between the above two limits. They have
properties comparable with epoxy, but are available at low
cost. Plant fiber polymer composites are used in interior parts
of automobiles [7, 8].
Researchers have reported that the mechanical properties
can be improved by appropriate surface treatments [9, 10].
With the increase in surface area, the cellulose micro fibrils get
exposed, which in turn improves the wettability and
impregnation [11].
In the present work, the fibres were treated with NaOH to
increase the wettability. Banana fibres are used as
reinforcement in vinyl ester resin and the effect of fibre volume
fraction in the composite is studied.

abundantly cultivated. Banana fiber can be obtained easily

from the plants which are rendered as waste after the fruits II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
have ripened. So banana fiber can be explored as a potential
reinforcement. Jute fiber composite have better strength than A. Chemical treatment of fibers
wood composites as reported by Gowda et al [1]. Laly et al [2]
Banana fibers as shown in fig1, were procured from
have reported the optimum content in banana fiber in polyester
TamilNadu – India. The fibers were then treated with 5%
composite to be 40%. Sreekumar et al [3] have investigated
NaOH solution for 4
effect of fiber content in polyester composites and have
hours. The fibers are then
reported 40% volume fraction to show maximum tensile
washed thoroughly with
strength. Henequen, palm and sisal fibre all have nearly the
distilled water. Fibers are
same kind of tensile, chemical and physical properties as
then put in a oven for 24
reported by Belmares et al [4]. Pothan et al [5] researched on
hours at 80 oC to remove
reinforced polyester composites with short banana fiber. It is
any traces of moisture.
shown that 30 mm fiber length gave maximum tensile strength
and 40mm fiber length shows maximum impact strength.
Fig1. Untreated banana fiber.

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 Rajesh Ghosh et al. / (IJAEST) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES
Vol No. 4, Issue No. 1, 089 - 091

B. Matrix composite plotted against percentage fiber volume fraction.

Vinyl ester resin is obtained from Ecmas India pvt ltd The graph shows a near linear increase in the tensile
under the trade name of Ecmalon 9911. It appears as a clear
yellow color liquid with viscosity of 400 cps and specific 6

gravity of 1.05. The cast resin has a tensile strength of 70 MPa 5

Tensile modulus (GPa)

and tensile modulus of 3200 MPa.
4
C. Preparation of the composite
The composites are made by hand lay-up technique. As 3

shown in fig2. The mould used for the composite is made of 2

mild steel with plywood sheet placed in the inner surface. A
debonding agent is applied on the plywood sheet and the 1

composite specimen is casted in the mould. The inner cavity

dimension of the mould is 200 mm x 200 mm x 10 mm. The
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
upper plate is bolted to the % fiber volume fraction
mould and the setup is left
to cure for 24 hours at Fig.4 Effect of fibre volume fraction on tensile modulus
room temperature. The
composite plate so formed

T
is then oven cured for 24 modulus with 65% increase at 35% fiber volume fraction. The
hours at 80 oC. Specimens graphs of specific tensile strength (fig.5) and specific tensile
are cut for testing as per modulus (fig.6) plotted against fiber volume fraction show an
ASTM standards. increasing trend in accordance with the tensile strength and
Fig2. The mould. tensile modulus.

D. Tensile test
Tensile test is done according to ASTM D638 with a
gauge length of 50 mm. Tests are carried out in Hounsfield
tensometer model –H20 KW. The cross head speed is 1
mm/min.
ES Specific tensile strength
(MN-m/kg)
0.16

0.14

0.12

0.1

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 0.08

There is a decrease in the density of the composite with the 0.06

increase in the fiber volume fraction. This can be attributed to 0.04

the fact that the density of fiber is lower than the resin. Fig3 0.02
shows the variation of mean tensile strength with the increase
in percentage of fiber volume fraction. There is a dip in the 0
A
mean tensile strength during the initial stages of fiber loading. 0 10 20 30 40 50

This shows that the load is not properly transmitted to the % fiber volume fraction
fibers. The sole purpose of reinforcement is not properly served
at lower volume fractions. But as the fiber volume percentage Fig.5 Effect of fibre volume fraction on specific tensile
increases from 10%, the mean tensile strength also increases. strength.
At 35 % of fiber volume, the tensile strength is increased by
38.6%. This should be because of the increased bonding
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between the fiber and the matrix. The load sharing is easily
transmitted to the fibers. Fig4 shows the tensile modulus of the 0.007

140 0.006
Specific tensile modulus

120 0.005
(GN-m/kg)
Tensile strength (MPa)

100 0.004

80 0.003

60 0.002

40
0.001

20
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 % fiber volume fraction
% fiber volume fraction

Fig.6: Effect of fibre volume fraction on specific tensile

Fig.3 Effect of fibre volume fraction on tensile strength modulus

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 Rajesh Ghosh et al. / (IJAEST) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES
IV. CONCLUSION
There is an improvement in the tensile properties of the
banana fiber – vinyl ester resin composites.
At 35% of fiber volume fraction, the tensile strength is
increased by 38.6% and 65% increases in tensile modulus.
At lower volume fractions of banana fiber, the strength of
the composite specimen is reduced when compared with the
virgin resin.
Banana fiber having high specific strength makes a
lightweight composite material and can be used to make light
weight automobile interior parts.
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IJ
ISSN: 2230-7818 @ 2011 http://www.ijaest.iserp.org. All rights Reserved.
Vol No. 4, Issue No. 1, 089 - 091
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