Potential of Midrib of Cocos nucifera Leaf for Reinforcement of Plastics

Abstract

Abstract

Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) is an abundant crop of tropical areas. In the present work, mechanical properties of midrib of coconut palm leaf as tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength, flexural modulus impact strength and elongation at break is experimentally determined and compared with other fibers. Single-fiber pull-out test is conducted to determine critical embedded length and interfacial adhesion between fiber and matrix for reinforcement in polyester resin. Tensile test and heat distortion temperature (HDT) test are also conducted for midrib/polyester composite at different weight percentage of fiber. Theoretical tensile properties are calculated according to rule of mixture and compared with tensile test results. Salient conclusions have been drawn which point to the potential of midrib fiber for development of a natural fiber composite as midrib/polymer.

Key words: Polymer matrix composites, natural fiber, mechanical properties, heat distortion temperature (HDT), midrib of coconut palm leaf, coconut palm

Cite this Article

Dubey Neeraj, Agnihotri Geeta.Potential of midrib of Cocos nucifera leaf for reinforcement of plastics. Journal of Polymer & Composites (JoPC). 2015; 3(1): 25–32p.