Effect of surface modification and water absorption on mechanical properties of Sabai grass (Eulaliopsis binata) fibers/epoxy composites

This work aims to study the effect of surface modification and water absorption of Sabai fibers on the mechanical properties of Sabai grass/epoxy composite. The hand lay-up technique was used to fabricate both untreated and treated Sabai grass/epoxy composite. The lamina’s tensile, flexural, compression, and impact strength were conducted before and after water-aging at 20°C, 40°C, and 50°C. Improvement in the mechanical behavior of the alkali-treated Sabai grass/epoxy lamina over the untreated reinforced epoxy composite lamina has been reported by analyzing the morphology of the fiber surface using scanning electron micrography. Compared to the as-fabricated samples, there is a substantial reduction in tensile strength, flexural strength, and Young’s modulus when immersed in water and with an increase in immersion temperature. The impact strength of untreated reinforced composites is higher than that of treated reinforced composites before aging. The properties degrade due to lower fiber-matrix adhesion under different aging conditions.