Study on the Effect of Gamma Irradiation on Tensile Properties of Natural Fibers Reinforced Hybrid Composites

Now-a-days, Natural Fibers appear to be the outstanding materials which come as the viable and abundant substitute for the expensive and non-renewable synthetic fibre. These, Natural fibers are not only strong and light weight but also relatively very cheap. Among several natural fibers, Pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) is one that has good potential as reinforcement in polymer composite, it was extracted from raw pineapple leaf. Jute is the most widely used natural fibers due to its advantages such as ease of availability, low density, low production cost and moderate mechanical properties; it was extracted from stem of the plant. The hybrid (PALF and Jute) fibers was then chemically treated and dried in hot air oven to hinder the water content. In this present work the hybrid composite specimens were prepared by using Bisphenol-A (BPA) as a matrix and the short hybrid (PALF/Jute) fiber with length of 9mm and 30% volume fraction as reinforcement were prepared by hand lay-up technique. The study is made to show the tensile properties difference between unirradiated and gamma irradiated hybrid composites. The hybrid composites were irradiated at 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20 kGy using cobalt-60 source in the presence of air. The results showed that, hybrid composites irradiated at 5 kGy radiation dose delivered the best possible results.