Effect of Fiber Length and NaOH Treatment on the Flexural Behavior of Coir Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composite
Keywords:
Coir fiber, epoxy matrix, fiber length, sodium hydroxide, flexural strengthAbstract
This paper presents the study on the effect of fiber length and fiber surface modification on flexural
properties of coir fiber reinforced epoxy composites. The composite sample was fabricated with three different fiber
lengths namely 10, 20, and 30 mm. The fiber treatment was carried out using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution at five
different concentrations such as 2, 4, 6, 8 & 10%. The fabrication was made by hand lay-up techniques. Mechanical
interlocking between fiber and matrix was observed from the SEM (scanning electron microscope) micrographs. The
study reveals that increases NaOH concentration in the fiber treatment was found to increase the flexural strength up to
4% and further increase in NaOH concentration reduce the flexural strength and also the strength increase with
increasing fiber length
