Experimental and numerical assessment of the flexural response of banana fiber sandwich epoxy composite

Venkatesh Chenrayan; Gezahgn Gebremaryam; Kiran Shahapurkar; Kalayarasan Mani; Yasser Fouad; Md Abul Kalam; Nabisab Mujawar Mubarak; Manzoore Elahi Mohammad Soudagar; Bashir Suleman Abusahmin

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-45460-1

Experimental and numerical assessment of the flexural response of banana fiber sandwich epoxy composite

Sci Rep. 2023 Oct 24;13(1):18156. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-45460-1.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Knowledge Institute of Technology, Salem, 637504, India.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Mechanical, Chemical and Materials Engineering, Adama Science and Technology University, 1888, Adama, Ethiopia.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Wolaita Sodo University, P.O. Box:138, Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia.
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Mechanical, Chemical and Materials Engineering, Adama Science and Technology University, 1888, Adama, Ethiopia. kiranhs1588@astu.edu.et.
⁵ Department of Mechanical Engineering, PSG College of Technolgy, Coimbatore, 641004, India.
⁶ Department of Applied Mechanical Engineering, College of Applied Engineering, Muzahimiyah Branch, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, 11421, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, FEIT, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia.
⁸ Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Brunei, Bandar Seri Begawan, 1410, Brunei Darussalam. mubarak.yaseen@gmail.com.
⁹ Department of Biosciences, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, India. mubarak.yaseen@gmail.com.
¹⁰ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Graphic Era (Deemed to be University), Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248002, India. me.soudagar@gmail.com.
¹¹ Institute of Sustainable Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, 43000, Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia. me.soudagar@gmail.com.
¹² Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Brunei, Bandar Seri Begawan, 1410, Brunei Darussalam.

Abstract

Recently, most service or product-oriented industries have been focusing on their activities to uphold the green and sustainable environment protocol owing to the increased environmental pollution. Concerning this issue, industries are now concentrating on developing recyclable or waste materials products. This research advocates developing and validating a banana fiber sandwich composite to promote the beneficial usage of bio-waste. The composite sandwich specimens were fabricated with resin-impregnated woven banana fiber mat as a skin, and the core was reinforced with three different weight percentages (5, 7.5 and 10%) of chopped banana fiber. The sandwich specimens were pressed into a three-point bending test to validate the structural integrity. The flexural characteristics like flexural strength and modulus were examined experimentally, whereas the key strength indices like flexural stiffness and core shear modulus were evaluated analytically. Post-fracture surfaces were studied through a scanning electron microscope to investigate the failure mechanism. The experimental and analytical results indicate that 10% banana fiber content in the sandwich core increases the flexural strength and flexural modulus to 225% and 147%, respectively, compared to the neat epoxy core. The numerical simulation was also performed through FEA to validate the experimental findings. The numerical results are in good concurrence with the experimental one.