Effect of Fiber Length and Fiber Loading on Impact Strength of Emu Feather Fiber Epoxy Composites

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 5, Issue 12, December 2015)

213

Effect of Fiber Length and Fiber Loading on Impact Strength of

Emu Feather Fiber Epoxy Composites

V. Chandra sekhar

1

, Dr. V. Pandurangadu

2

, Dr. T. Subba rao

3

, Dr. S. Altaf hussain

4

1_{Asso. Prof., Dept of Mechanical Engineering, RGMCET, Nandyal, 518501.} 2

Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, JNT University, Anantapur. 515002. 3_{Professor, Department of Physics, SK University. Anantapur. 515002.}

4_{Prof., Dept of Mechanical Engineering, RGMCET, Nandyal, 518501.}

Abstract—A composite is usually made up of at least two materials out of which one is binding material called matrix and the other is a reinforcement material known as fiber. In the present work the composite materials were prepared with feathers of ‘Emu’ bird as fibers and Epoxy as resin. The specimens were prepared with varied percentage weight of fiber and length of fiber. The feathers were treated with Alkali (NaOH) solution and soap water before reinforcing in to epoxy. The composite specimens were prepared and cured as per ASTM standards. The impact strength of the prepared emu feather fiber epoxy composites was evaluated. It was observed that the impact strength was increasing with increase in fiber length and fiber loading.

Keywords— Matrix, feather fibers of ‘emu’ bird, epoxy resin, composite, impact strength.

I. INTRODUCTION

Composite materials are produced by combining two dissimilar materials into a new material that may be better suited for a specific application than the individual material alone [1,2]. Important characteristics of composites are

their strength, hardness, rigid, light in weight,

environmental sustainability and biodegradability. They provide the required strength for all structures such as buildings, ships in combination with low weight. Due to high stiffness, the fiber composites have various structural applications. The composite materials are highly chemical resistant. Many composites are being manufactured at a lower cost compared to other materials such as steel and concrete.

Natural fibers become attractive to researchers due to their wide availability, low cost, lightweight and environmentally degradable [3,4,5]. Plant fibers consist of cellulose while animal fibers consist of proteins [6]. The Studies reveals that the final properties of composites depend upon the properties of fiber and the interfacial bonding of fiber and matrix. The chemical bonding plays important role between the matrix and the fiber. Reports on composites using bird feathers as reinforcing fibers are rare [7].

A notable disadvantage of natural fibers is their polarity which makes it incompatible with hydrophobic matrix [8]. Many physical and chemical methods were developed to improve the bonding between the natural animal feathers and matrix material. Chemical treatment method of natural fibers was explained by [9].These methods make the feathers free from moisture and impurities. These methods affect the bonding of fiber and matrix. The Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is also the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three extant subspecies of Emus in Australia. In the present work emu feathers were selected as fibers because, Emu Chicken feathers are waste products of the poultry industry. Billions of kilograms of waste feathers are generated each year by poultry processing plants, creating a serious solid waste problem. The objective of the study is to investigate the effect of length and percentage weight of feather on mechanical properties of epoxy polymer composites.

II. MATERIALS AND METHODS

A. Materials

The matrix material, used for the fabrication of ‗Emu‘ feather fiber reinforced composites consists of low temperature curing epoxy resin (Araldite LY556) and corresponding hardener (Primary amine HY951)

B. Extraction of Fibers

The ‗Emu‘ feather fiber collected from the local area, is washed several times with water then soaked in 5% of NaOH concentrated water for 30 minutes. The soaked feathers then washed with detergent water followed by pure water and then is dried in sun rays. A clean fiber free from dirt and impurities are obtained.

C. Preparation of composites

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

214 To prepare the composite specimens, these fibers in pre determined weight proportion and length (maximum of 05%, & 5 cm) are reinforced into the epoxy resin. Blocks of size (200mmX20mmX3mm) for tensile, (127mm x 13mm x 3mm) for flexural, (65mm x 13mm x 3mm) for impact test were cast with hand layup technique in a rubber mould.

Initially, the rubber mould is gently cleansed and is set free from moisture and dirt. Later a thin layer of wax is applied on inner walls of the mould along with its base plate, for easy removal of cast after curing.

After wax is applied, the proportionate mixture of resin and hardener (10:1 by weight percentage) is taken and is poured into the mould to form a uniform layer and later fiber was taken and is placed with uniform spacing. After the fiber gets wet on early layer of matrix, another layer of resin and hardener mixture is poured over it until desired thickness is obtained. In the present work, only one layer of fiber is layed because of thin slab thickness. The specimens were prepared by varying the fiber length from 1 to 5 cm and percentage of fiber loading from 1percent to 5 percent.

D. Curing

The specimens thus prepared were put under load for about 24 hours for proper curing at room temperature. After this, the specimens were removed from the moulds and cured further at a constant temperature of upto 70oC for 3 hours. Some of the sample specimens thus prepared are shown in figure 1.

Fig.1 sample composite specimens

III. TEST PERFORMED

The fabricated specimens of suitable dimensions are subjected to physical characterization. On these fabricated specimens, Impact strength tests were conducted. Details of the test conducted is presented here under.

Impact strength test: Impact strength of unnotched specimen was determined using an izod - impact tester according to ASTM D- 256 strands. The dimensions of the specimen for impact strength are 65 mm X 13 mm X 3 mm. In each case three samples were taken and the average values were considered. The Impact testing machine used for conducting the impact test is shown in the fig.2.

Fig.2 Impact testing machine

IV. RESULTS

The prepared emu feather fiber reinforced epoxy composites were subjected to impact test and the results were tabulated in table 1.

Graphs were plotted in two categories i.e.

i) By keeping the fiber loading as constant and varying the length of fiber and

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

[image:3.612.118.566.110.608.2]

215

Table 1 Results Of Impact Test

By keeping percentage of fiber loading as constant

By keeping length of fiber as constant

S. No

* P in %

* L in cm

Impact strength

in J/m S. No

* L in cm

* P in %

Impact strength

in J/m

1 1 1 106.22 1 1 1 106.22

2 1 2 112.78 2 1 2 113.33

3 1 3 127.22 3 1 3 116.89

4 1 4 136.11 4 1 4 128.56

5 1 5 145.89 5 1 5 135.89

6 2 1 113.33 6 2 1 112.78

7 2 2 120.67 7 2 2 120.67

8 2 3 133.22 8 2 3 125.33

9 2 4 149.67 9 2 4 142.00

10 2 5 174.44 10 2 5 159.33

11 3 1 116.89 11 3 1 127.22

12 3 2 125.33 12 3 2 133.22

13 3 3 138.44 13 3 3 138.44

14 3 4 155.56 14 3 4 171.00

15 3 5 184.56 15 3 5 187.89

16 4 1 128.56 16 4 1 136.11

17 4 2 142.00 17 4 2 149.67

18 4 3 171.00 18 4 3 155.56

19 4 4 194.67 19 4 4 194.67

20 4 5 203.56 20 4 5 210.67

21 5 1 135.89 21 5 1 145.89

22 5 2 159.33 22 5 2 174.44

23 5 3 187.89 23 5 3 184.56

24 5 4 210.67 24 5 4 203.56

25 5 5 221.44 25 5 5 221.44

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

217 The impact strength for 1cm length is 106.22 J/m and it increases to 145.8 J/m for 1% fiber loading. A gradual increase in impact strength was observed. Impact strength for I cm length is 113.33j/m to 174.44 j/m for 2% fiber loading. Similarly for the remaining fiber loadings also the impact strength is increasing gradually with increase in fiber length. Nearly 37.34% of increase in impact strength was observed for 1% fiber loading composites when fiber length was varied from 1 cm to 5 cm.

Impact strength for 1%fiber loading is 106.22J/m and it increases to 135.89j/m for 1cm length of fiber. A gradual increase in impact strength was observed. For 2% fiber loading the impact strength was 113.33j/m and it increases to 159.33j/m for 2 cm length of fiber. Similar trend was noticed for the remaining lengths of fibers for various fiber loadings. Nearly 29.93% of increase in impact strength was observed when fiber loading was increased from 1% to 5% for 1 cm length of fiber.

From the above results it is apparent that for impact strength fiber length ha significant impact on the impact strength of the emu feather fiber reinforced epoxy composites. The same can be observed with the help of ANOVA and Grey relational analysis also.

V. CONCLUSIONS

The mechanical property such as impact strength was tested for the Emu' Fiber Epoxy Composite materials. The impact strength was increasing with increase in fiber loading and fiber length. Percentage of fiber length plays much important role than the loading on impact strength of the emu feather epoxy composites.

The prepared emu feather fiber epoxy composites have minimum impact strength of 106.22J/m at one percent one centimeter length of fiber and a maximum of 221.44 J/m for 5 percent 5 centimeter length of fiber. Nearly 108.47 percentage increase in impact strength was observed by introducing the emu feather fiber.

Epoxy is a brittle material. The brittle materials will break directly without any deformation when load is applied on it. Due to the presence of feather, feather reinforced epoxy composites will undergo deformation before fracture when load is applied on it. Due to this property they can absorb more load, as a result impact strength is increasing.

When the reinforcement fiber is flexible in nature it acts as a toughening agent. One can expect increase in impact strength when we use flexible fiber as reinforcement. Naturally the pure epoxy is brittle in nature. By addition of flexible fibers like feathers makes the brittle materials in to toughening materials. A similar trend has been observed when chicken feather fibers were reinforced in vinyl ester and polyester resins by Uzan et al. [8].

Acknowledgements:

The author expresses sincere thanks to Prof. A. Varadarajulu, Department of physics, Osmania university, Hyderabad for his valuable guidance.

Also expresses sincere thanks to Sri. A.Venkata ramana, Rtd. Asst. Executive Engineer, TBPHLC, Anantapur for his endless support.

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