Empirical and statistical investigation of injection molded Enset–PLA biocomposites’ characteristics in response to impact loading

This paper incorporates characteristics of Enset reinforced Poly lactic Acid biocomposite in response to impact loading. In this study fiber ratio, fiber size, plasticizer amount and fiber age are considered as a factor affecting its impact strength. Analytical and statistical approaches are employed to analyze the abovementioned characteristics; JMP 13 pro software and Python programing are used during the statistical analysis. The result showed that addition of plasticizer up to 6 % to pure PLA continuously increases impact strength and decline happens afterward. The statistical analysis result also revealed that fiber ratio is correlated best with the impact strength with feature importance value of 0.5168 followed by plasticizer amount with feature importance value of 0.0484. It was also witnessed that, by adding fibers to a PLA containing 6 % plasticizer, the impact strength of pure PLA can be enhanced up to 19 % and the maximum impact strength achieved for 25 % fiber containing Enset-PLA composite. The findings show the promising potential of Enset-PLA biodegradable composite with good impact properties, making it suitable for applications in automotive interiors, such as dashboards. Also, the study finds the optimal plasticizer ratio, easing compounding and injection molding without a major degradation of material properties.