Effect of Fiber Ratio on Mechanical, Thermal and Electrical Properties of Areca Sheath-Bamboo Hybrid Reinforced Polyester Composites

In this research, areca sheath and bamboo fibers were used as reinforcing materials with the polyester matrix. The fiber loadings were varied such as raw areca sheath fiber, raw bamboo fiber, areca sheath fiber : bamboo fiber = 1 : 1, areca sheath fiber : bamboo fiber = 1 : 2 and areca sheath fiber: bamboo fiber = 2 : 1. The research work investigates the mechanical properties, thermal properties and electrical conductivity of the composites. All mechanical properties showed the highest value for areca sheath : bamboo = 1 : 2 fiber-loaded composite with maximum thermal stability and minimal thermal conductivity of 380.5 degrees C and 0.251 W/mK, respectively. The DMA test exposed that the areca sheath : bamboo = 1 : 2 fiber loaded composite has medium-range thermal stability. On the contrary, electrical conductivity of the areca sheath : bamboo = 1 : 2 fiber-reinforced composite were found to be highest than other fabricated composites.