Tensile and Dielectric Properties of Yepi Fiber-Reinforced Polyester Composites

Abstract

Day by day increase in the technological advancements invite the development and production of new composites. In that concern natural fiber plays a very vital role in many engineering applications. The present work makes an attempt to make natural fiber reinforced composites using netted fibers like yepi which have no adverse effect on the environment, to compare with the established filamentary fibers like coconut, palm and sisal and to determine various properties like tensile strength, specific tensile strength, specific tensile modulus and dielectric strength with varying proportions of fiber in the matrix. The tensile strength and specific tensile modulii for these composites are 2.9 and 2.5 times those for matrix when tested in its pure condition i.e. without fiber. The dielectric strength of yepi fiber reinforced composites is comparable with sisal, coconut and palm fiber reinforced composites