Effects of water absorption on the mechanical properties of hybrid natural fibre/phenol formaldehyde composites

Sekar Sanjeevi; Vigneshwaran Shanmugam; Suresh Kumar; Velmurugan Ganesan; Gabriel Sas; Deepak Joel Johnson; Manojkumar Shanmugam; Athijayamani Ayyanar; Kakur Naresh; Rasoul Esmaeely Neisiany; Oisik Das

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-92457-9

Effects of water absorption on the mechanical properties of hybrid natural fibre/phenol formaldehyde composites

Sci Rep. 2021 Jun 28;11(1):13385. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-92457-9.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hindusthan Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India. yessekar007@gmail.com.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Srivilliputtur, Tamilnadu, India.
⁴ Department of Agricultural Engineering, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.
⁵ Structural and Fire Engineering Division, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, 97187, Luleå, Sweden.
⁶ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hindusthan Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India.
⁷ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government College of Engineering, Bodinayakanur, Tamilnadu, India.
⁸ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.
⁹ Department of Materials and Polymer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hakim Sabzevari University, 9617976487, Sabzevar, Iran.
¹⁰ Structural and Fire Engineering Division, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, 97187, Luleå, Sweden. oisik.das@ltu.se.

Abstract

This investigation is carried out to understand the effects of water absorption on the mechanical properties of hybrid phenol formaldehyde (PF) composite fabricated with Areca Fine Fibres (AFFs) and Calotropis Gigantea Fibre (CGF). Hybrid CGF/AFF/PF composites were manufactured using the hand layup technique at varying weight percentages of fibre reinforcement (25, 35 and 45%). Hybrid composite having 35 wt.% showed better mechanical properties (tensile strength ca. 59 MPa, flexural strength ca. 73 MPa and impact strength 1.43 kJ/m²) under wet and dry conditions as compared to the other hybrid composites. In general, the inclusion of the fibres enhanced the mechanical properties of neat PF. Increase in the fibre content increased the water absorption, however, after 120 h of immersion, all the composites attained an equilibrium state.