Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

MECHANICAL AND WATER ABSORPTION BEHAVIOR OF CONTINUOUS UNTREATED AND ALKALI TREATED ARECA PALM LEAF STALK FIBER REINFORCED POLYMER COMPOSITES

N. Shanmugasundaram, I. Rajendran, M. Jayaraj and I. Aravindhaguru

Abstract

The continuous untreated and alkali treated areca palm leaf stalk fiber reinforced polymer composites were fabricated by compression mould technique. The composites were evaluated based on mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural, impact and water absorption behavior. The weight fraction of the fiber and matrix was fixed as 30:70 in the composite. The mechanical property result shows that the alkali treated continuous areca palm leaf stalk fiber composites gave good result compared to raw continuous areca palm leaf stalk fiber composites.