Tensile Behaviour of Natural Polymer Composite Materials at Ambient and Elevated Temperatures

The behaviour of materials can change significantly when they are exposed to high temperatures. Therefore, it is essential to understand how materials perform under elevated temperature conditions before recommending them for applications that involve exposure to high temperatures. The present work describes the preparation of composite materials using natural biodegradable waste materials such as groundnut shell powder and teak wood powder as reinforcement phases for a polyester matrix. The composites were tested for their mechanical properties such as tensile modulus, tensile strength, and percent of elongation, as well as their thermal conductivity at room temperature. Later, using the simulation studies, the experimental behaviour of natural composites at room temperature was validated and further extended to find the same composite behaviour at elevated temperatures. From the current studies, it is identified that teak wood powder reinforced composites experienced more stress than the ground nut shell powder reinforced composites at the selected elevated temperatures, such as 50 & DEG;C, 80 & DEG;C, 100 & DEG;C, 120 & DEG;C, and 150 & DEG;C respectively. At room temperature, the teak wood powder reinforced composites had a 60% higher tensile modulus, 97% higher tensile strength, and 12.5% greater thermal conductivity than the GNSP composite under similar particle loading, hosting medium, and environmental conditions.