Preparation and Testing of Composites using Waste Groundnut Shells and Coir Fibres

Composite materials are now-a-days replacing the traditional materials because of its superior properties such as high tensile strength, low thermal expansion and high strength-to-weight ratio. Natural fibre composites such as groundnut shell polymer composites and coir composites have become more attractive due to their high specific strength, light weight and biodegradability. This work attempts to study particulate natural fiber based epoxy composites. It is concerned with the preparation and testing of composite materials from groundnut shell fibres and coir fibres along with binder and epoxy resins. The groundnut shells are chemically washed, cleaned and then dried in sunlight. The dried shells are then grinded to particle sizes of 1 mm, 1.5 mm, 2 mm and the epoxy resins are added in 70:30 ratio by weight to the fibres in a 12 mm thick mould and different flat square-shaped composites are obtained. Specimens of different particle sizes are cut into standard dimensions as per ASTM for different mechanical and moisture absorption tests. The results thus obtained are relatively compared between groundnut shell and coir fiber composites so as to suggest suitable applications. In general, the coir fibre composites are found to be comparatively better than groundnut fibre composites particularly considering the mechanical properties.