Author : Priyadarshi Tapas Ranjan Swain and Sandhyarani Biswas

Now-a-days, the use of natural fiber reinforced composites starts gaining popularity in many applications due to the fact that this material possesses characteristics that are comparable to conventional materials. Among natural fibers, jute has been widely used for many such applications due to its availability, low cost and satisfactory mechanical properties. The objective of the present work is to study the physical and mechanical behavior of jute fiber reinforced epoxy composites filled with Al2O3 particulate. The composites with different fiber and filler loading are fabricated using simple hand layup technique. Experiments are carried out to study the effect of fiber and filler loading on the properties of composites. The experimental result shows that the presence of Al2O3 content significantly influences the physical and mechanical behavior of composites. It is also observed that the composite with 30 wt. % fiber loading shows better strength properties.

Keywords: Jute fiber, Al2O3, Epoxy, Mechanical properties

Article published in International Conference on Advances in Mechanical Sciences 2014, Special Issue-2 (Feb 2014)