Mechanical Properties of Sisal/Coir Fiber Reinforced Hybrid Composites Fabricated by Cold Pressing Method

Bio-composites have less density and are environmental friendly materials that require less energy during production and subsequent machining. This paper reports the mechanical and water absorption properties of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) treated sisal and coir fiber reinforced epoxy resin thermo set hybrid composites. The hybrid composites were prepared by traditional cold pressing method at room temperature with applied pressure of 410.4 kg/cm² for 3 hours pressurization time. The mechanical properties were characterized according to ASTM standards. Hybrid composites with 40wt% of sisal and coir fiber were found to possess higher tensile strength of 48.2 MPa and flexural strength of 76.68 MPa among the fabricated hybrid composite specimens. Absorption of water increases with increasing fiber volume. The experimental result also show that the sisal and coir fibers are promising reinforcement for use in low cost bio-composites which have high strength to weight ratio. (paper)