Thermal and Mechanical Behavior of the Coir Powder Filled Polyester Micro-Composites

Abstract

Reinforcement of micro- or nano-fillers is the new key technique to enhance the mechanical properties of polymers. The present work pertaining to the thermo-mechanical behavior of micron range coir filler reinforced polyester matrix composites. The polyester micro-composites are manufactured by hand lay-up method in which the reinforcement is coir micro-fillers, which are uniformly dispersed in the polyester matrix. The following testing and characterizations were performed to predict the thermo-mechanical behavior of the micro-composites and pristine polymer: tensile and flexural tests, Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). The mechanical properties of micro-composites were attained highest when the filler reinforcements were maximum. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) particle size analysis shown the size distribution of coir micro-particles and the avg. size of coir micro-particles was 0.255 µm.

Keywords

• dynamic mechanical analysis
• micro-composites
• dynamic light scattering
• mechanical characterization
• coir filler