Date of Award

18-4-2024

Document Type

Thesis

School

School of Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Dr.S.Hariharan

Keywords

NFRC, Fatigue Analysis, Sound Absorption, Flammability

Abstract

Demand for reducing energy consumption and detrimental environmental impacts after the effective lifetime of an engineering material are the major driving factors for the development of natural fibre reinforced composites (NFRCs) in various sectors. Compared to synthetic fibre like carbon-fibres or Kevlar, natural fibres provide several benefits including light weight, inexpensive, recyclability, superior specific strength, biodegradable, non-toxic during handling, and less energy intensive during manufacturing. This doctoral work presents observations from mechanical tests and interpretations on the suitability of natural fibre reinforced composites for less heavily loaded engineering applications areas.

In the first stage, jute, flax, and hemp fibres were tested at single fibre, yarn, and fabric levels under ASTM standard tensile loading test conditions. Study results revealed that hemp fibres had superior strength among the three fibres. In the second stage, fibres were impregnated in the epoxy resin using hand layup method for the NFRC to have a specific weight fraction 45:55. Then samples for mechanical testing (tensile, flexural, and compression) were prepared following ASTM standards.

Prepared cut samples were undergone tensile, compressive, and 3-point bend tests using the Zwick Roell universal testing machine at PSGTECH Coe Indutech, Coimbatore. The results revealed that Jute fibre reinforced composite (JFRC) and Hemp fibre reinforced composite (HFRC) are better among the three based on observations in mechanical properties and most likely failure type based on scanning image microscopy.

In the third phase, the selected JFRC and HFRC were modelled and evaluated for fatigue loading conditions in a computational study with ANSYS. These test samples were also subjected to sound absorption test, and flammability test as per respective standards. Results showed HFRC to have superior fatigue response over JFRC.

The sound absorption ability of of both JFRC and HRFC were almost similar with a slightly better performance observed in JFRC, especially in high frequency range. Flammability test results showed that HFRC had higher resistance to flammability as compared to JFRC. This work observed at least one NFRC to have most of the desired properties in an engineering material to be considered for automotive or aerospace applications.

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