Studies on Physico-Mechanical Behaviour of Sawdust/Glass Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Hybrid Composites

[enter In this study, various treated, untreated, and treated Sawdust/glass fiber composites were fabricated using epoxy resin. Wood saw dust were obtained and subjected to boiling at 100 o C, later washed, dried under shade for 24 hours. The fiber were subjected to alkali, potassium permanganate, hydrogen peroxide treatment prior to composite fabrication. Composite of untreated and treated sawdust/glass fibers were fabricated using hand lay-up technique. The composite material was subjected to these treatments in order to achieve bond enhancement adjustment at the matrix-fiber bond interface. A part of the glass fiber was used to improve the hybrid composite's mechanical properties. The tensile strength, flexural, density, chemical resistance and water absorption of the composites were analyzed using standard methods. FTIR was conducted on the fiber to ascertain the chemical treatment on the fibers, SEM was used for the morphological study. The results obtained showed that the tensile and flexural strength improved from 17-225.5 kgf, and 13.9-158.4 kgf respectively in the composite samples. Chemical resistance of the sawdust fiber treated potassium permanganate composite improved compared to the untreated fiber composites in both cases. Water absorption properties of the composites were found to decrease in the treated fibers compared to untreated fiber composites. The FTIR result revealed that reaction has taken place between the fiber and the treatment reagents. Hence, the fiber modification has improved the properties of the composites due to increase in fiber-matrix interaction.