Indian mallow fiber reinforced polyester composites: mechanical and thermal properties

The natural fiber reinforced polymeric composites have found to be an excellent substitute for synthetic fiber based polymeric composites and are being widely utilized in several advanced engineering applications. The present experimental work deals with randomly oriented Indian mallow fiber/polyester (IMFP) composites which are fabricated by compression moulding method by varying the fiber wt. % from 10 to 50%. The prepared IMFP specimens were evaluated through various mechanical and thermal properties and the results showed that better properties were obtained in specimens with 50 wt. % fiber content. The optimum tensile strength and modulus was about 46 MPa and 3.56 GPa respectively, while the elongation at break was 1.39%. The optimum flexural and impact strength are estimated to be around 111 MPa and 14 kJ/m2 respectively. The heat deflection test (HDT) displayed that temperature withstands up to 84 °C at 50 wt. % of fiber content. The surface morphologies of the fractured composite specimens were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The overall results confirmed the suitability of the present specimens to be employed in various light weight applications.