Abstract
Natural fibres possess low density, less abrasiveness, good strength and sound absorption capacity and its significance lies in being renewable and biodegradable. The mechanical characteristics and moisture absorption of pineapple fibres reinforced with polypropylene resin are focused in this study. Chopped fibres and unidirectional fibre mats of pineapple were reinforced with polypropylene resin to make pineapple fibre/polypropylene composites. The length of the pineapple fibres and the orientation of the layup of the fibre mats are varied to make composite specimens and the mechanical properties are tested. Moisture absorption studies were carried out and it was confirmed to follow Fickian diffusion. A total of 384 samples were tested and it was observed that all the samples reached its saturation in moisture absorption before 720 h and the strength was inversely proportional to the moisture absorbed. Specimens reinforced with unidirectional fibre mats of alternate orientation possessed high strength irrespective of the moisture absorbed when compared to the specimens reinforced with chopped fibres of random orientation. Neuro fuzzy modelling using ANFIS tool box in MATLAB was used to correlate the static mechanical properties of pineapple fibre-reinforced polymer under different moisture conditions, fibre orientations, fibre volume percentage, fibre size, etc.
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