Mechanical characterization of banana-nylon fibre reinforced Vinyl ester composites

ABSTRACTHand lay-up was used to create banana and nylon Fibre-reinforced vinyl ester (VE) composites with random orientation of the short fibre ratio (banana:nylon = 1:1). To make it environmentally conscious, natural fibre (banana) was added in synthetic fibre (nylon). After fabrication, different mechanical testing was conducted. Tensile strength improves by 47% at 10 wt. % fibre loading and 13% at 20 wt.% fibre loading. Flexural strength improved by up to 213% at 15 wt. % fibre loading. At 20 wt. % fibre loading, the mean hardness number reaches its maximum. The mean impact energy is highest at 15 wt. % fibre loading. Furthermore, the highest water absorption is 2.3% with a fibre loading of 20 wt.%. After 15 wt.% fibre loading, which is suggested for optimal performance, the manufactured composites exhibit a declining trend in tensile, flexural, and impact capabilities. As a result, scanning electron micrographs were collected at 20 wt.% fibre loading to investigate the type of fibre-matrix bonding, voids, fibre agglomeration, and fibre pullouts phenomena. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy was also explored to show a decline in hemicelluloses content. As-fabricated composites have several technological uses, including leisure and sports products, maritime sectors, and airplanes.KEYWORDS: Vinyl esternatural fibresmechanical characterisationscanning electron microscopy (SEM)Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) AcknowledgementsThe authors would like to acknowledge the materials lab of the Mechanical and Production Engineering Department of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Dhaka. Also, like to acknowledge the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) for providing the facilities to carry out the FTIR and SEM experiments.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data availability statementThe datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.Author contributionsAll authors contributed to the idea, fabrication, and testing of the composites. All the authors provide valuable comments and suggestions in data collection, results processing, and final draft writing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.Additional informationFundingThe authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.