Impact and Hardness Properties of Areca Fiber-Epoxy Reinforced Composites

Natural Fibers composites are considered to have potential use as reinforcing material in polymer matrix composites because of their good strength, stiffness, low cost, environmental friendly and biodegradable. In present study, mechanical properties for natural fiber composites were evaluated. Here, areca fiber is used as new natural fiber reinforcement and epoxy resin as matrix. The extracted areca fibers from areca husk were chemically treated to get better interfacial bonding between fiber and matrix. Composite were prepared with randomly orientated fibers with different proportions of fibers and matrix ratio. Mechanical tests i.e. impact and hardness tests were performed and the results are reported. The results showed that, as the fiber volume fraction and composite post curing time increases the mechanical properties of the composite increases.