Mechanical and Tribological Properties of Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites

Natural fibre-reinforced polymer composites (NFRPCs) are preferred as alternatives for synthetic composites in aeronautical and automobile sectors due to their biodegradable characteristics. However, NFRPCs have drawbacks such as high water absorption and surface unevenness upon machining. Hence, various combinations of natural fibres and synthetic fibres are being explored. This chapter presents the mechanical and tribological properties of three NFRPCs. NFRPC laminates with 0.4 volume fraction (V f) of reinforcement (reinforcement: mixture of coir/sisal, coir/glass and sisal/glass) were fabricated by hand layup technique. Cardanol-based novolac resin was used as the matrix. The composite samples were evaluated for their water absorption, tensile strength and tribological properties. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of fibres reinforced with resin were analysed to understand the interfacial bonding between the resin and cell walls/lumens. Results indicate that sisal/glass fibre reinforcement showed higher tensile strength properties due to their combined strength, lower water absorption and better fibre–resin bonding. Amongst the composites, the coir/glass fibre reinforcement showed better wear resistance and lower friction force, when compared to the other combinations of reinforcements.