Experimental research into the mechanical behaviour of banana fibre reinforced PP composite material

Abstract Natural fibre reinforced plastics is one of the advanced polymer matrix composites developed in the area of engineering materials. The main reason behind its growth is the advantages that come along, such as being biodegradable, recyclable, lightweight, low cost of production, and abundantly available. Therefore, Natural fibre reinforced plastics are being used in many applications such as automotive components, aerospace parts, sporting goods and building industry. In this research polypropylene (PP) along with chopped banana fibre of approximately 1 to 1.5 mm in length is used to prepare a composite specimen with 85%:15% and 80%:20% polymer to fibre ratio. The natural fibres were made hydrophobic by treating it with 6% NaOH solution and then with 1% HCl. Series of mechanical properties like tensile strength in accordance with ASTM D638, flexural strength in accordance with ASTM D790 is tested. The specimen developed out of two different combinations of banana fibre reinforced plastics has been tested for its tensile and flexural strength and it has been found out that they exhibit good tensile and flexural strength.