Physical and Mechanical Properties of Short Sisal Fiber Filled Epoxy Composites

The present work aims at developing a class of polymer composites consisting of thermoset polymer i.e. epoxy as a matrix material with natural fiber i.e. sisal fiber as a reinforcing material. The sisal fiber used in present work are in short form i.e. dimension of around 4 mm. A set of composite with varying fiber loading has been fabricated by simple hand lay-up technique. The effect of fiber content on physical and mechanical properties of such fabricated samples are investigated and presented in this work. The various property evaluated are density, void content, tensile strength, compressive strength and flexural strength of the fabricated samples. The values obtained under controlled laboratory conditions are analyzed to identify its behavior. From the experimental results, it is found that density of the composite decreases with increase in filler content. However, voids are increases when fiber content in epoxy matrix increases. Further, short inclusion in epoxy matrix increases the flexural and compressive strength of the composite. Against that, decreasing trend is obtained when tensile strength of the fabricated samples was analyzed.