Abstract 

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The mechanical behavior of epoxy matrix composite materials with fiber-modification and hot compaction is investigated in this thesis work. Untreated Fiber, Compact untreated Fiber, Fiber treated with Molasses, Compact fiber treated with molasses, Fiber treated with dye, and Compact fiber treated with dye are the topics of our interest. We have studied the various mechanical properties of the composite materials such as ultimate tensile strength, young’s modulus of elasticity, percentage elongation by treating the composites at various temperatures such as 0°C, 25°C, 50°C, 75°C, 100°C, 125°C, 150°C, 175°C, 200°C, 225°C and 250°C. We also observed the hardness of the composites at these temperatures and found that the hardness was improved in case of the compact composites. We also measured the weight loss after the heat treatment and found that the composites did lose some weight after the heat treatment. So, we became interested to observe a water-absorption test of the composites and we choose four different temperatures (25°C, 75°C, 100°C and 125°C) to perform the test. The weight gain of the composites was found to be increased at all the temperatures after the test. At last, we performed a comparative study of the mechanical properties, weight loss and weight gain after the water-absorption test.

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Outcome

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The whole work can be summarized in a nutshell. Our goal was to investigate the mechanical properties i.e. tensile strength, hardness, modulus of elasticity, percentage elongation, percentage weight loss, and percentage weight gain for modified fiber composites subjected to hot compaction. Our another goal was to find out if heat treatment of these composites could affect these properties.

Our result can be concluded as:

1)  Fiber modifiers have a significant effect on jute fiber composites. We used both biodegradable and synthetic fiber modifiers in our thesis work.
2) Compressed molasses modified composites showed the highest tensile strength at 125°C compared to pure fiber at room temperature.
3) Compressed pure fiber composites showed the highest modulus of elasticity at 150°C compared to pure fiber at room temperature.
4)  Compressed molasses modified composites showed the highest hardness at 100°C compared to pure fiber at room temperature.

 

Future Scope

 

1. We have done our experiment using two types of modifiers (one is biodegradable and another is synthetic) only. Some other modifiers can also be tried to perform the tests.

2. During the work, 200 bar pressure was applied to make the composites more compact. Our main target was to achieve at least a 10% reduction in thickness. The work can also be done by trying some other percentages of thickness reduction.

3. Compressed molasse modified composites gave an almost satisfactory result in all the cases. While composites treated/modified with dye did not perform up to our expectations. There is a scope for finding the reason behind it in the future.