Author : Mahesh G T, Satish Shenoy B, Padmaraj N H and Chethan K N

Composite materials based on Grewia Serrulata as reinforcing fibers and polyester resin were prepared by hand lay-up technique and characterized, in terms of mechanical performance. Optimizing the length of the fibers for adequate mechanical properties is attempted in the present work. The mechanical properties of the composites were improved by reinforcing with short fibers. These scarcely cited fibers in the contemporary research work assure confidence for the further enhancement in their usage for various applications with continued research. The low density of the fibers results in light weight composites so that the overall weight of the system could be reduced considerably.

Keywords: Grewia Serrulata, Natural fiber, Tensile Strength, Flexural Strength, Composite

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