Impact of layering sequence and the incorporation of cotton seed on the mechanical properties,water absorption,and biodegradability of hybrid composites made from Indian almond along with banyan materials

Abstract

Natural composites play significant role in automobile and construction industries to make light weight components. Further, the environment friendly and low-cost characters make them economically desirable material. However, the moderate strength of these materials limits its services in certain applications. Hence, the research focusing on performance enhancement of natural composite is desirable. In the current investigation, an attempt has been made to develop novel composite using fibers such as banyan and Indian almond. Further, cotton seed was used as additional filler to promote the strength of composites. Two kinds of composites were developed by hand layup principle such as Indian almond-Banyan-Indian almond (I-B-I) and Banyan-Indian almond-Banyan (B-I-B). Based on the tensile performance, B-I-B was selected as best composite. Further, it was reinforced with cotton seed fillers of different weight fractions. Mechanical, water absorption and bio-degradation behaviors were investigated. Tensile results showed that B-I-B/7.5 wt% cotton seed composite exhibited maximum strength (84 MPa). A high flexural strength (115 MPa) was recorded for same composite. Further, impact strength of 15.8 kJ/m² was noted for B-I-B/7.5 wt% cotton seed composite. Mechanical properties of B-I-B/7.5 wt% cotton seed was enhanced due to placing of double layers of banyan fiber at outermost layers with good strength compared to Indian almond. Water absorption and bio-degradation tests reported a least moisture absorption (8% at 12 days) and mass loss (31% at 60 days) respectively, for B-I-B/10.0 wt% cotton seed composite owing to the filler reinforcement. Thus, this research reported that the B-I-B/7.5 wt% cotton seed composite could be better choice in automobile and construction industries because of its good mechanical characters. In case of humid environment, B-I-B/10.0 wt% cotton seed composite could be used as possessed slight response to humid.