INVESTIGATIONS ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF RED MUD FILLED SISAL AND BANANA FIBER REINFORCED POLYESTER COMPOSITES

Addition of red mud (an industrial waste) in to sisal fiber, banana fiber reinforced unsaturated polyester (USP) is discussed in this study. Red mud is the caustic insoluble waste residue generated during the alumina production from bauxite. Composites were fabricated separately with sisal/USP, banana/USP and each of them was filled with red mud also through compression molding process. Static mechanical tests like tensile, flexural, impact were conducted as per ASTM. Experimental results show that the addition of red mud promotes a marginal increase in the mechanical strength.