MECHANICAL, FATIGUE, FRACTURE TOUGHNESS, AND DYNAMIC MECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF SILANE-GRAFTED KEVLAR FIBER AND JACKFRUIT RAG-EXTRACTED CELLULOSE TOUGHENED EPOXY COMPOSITE

Lightweight composite material has been predominantly developed in recent decades, aiming to reduce the high fuel consumption of heavy metals and to produce corrosion-free and cost-effective material. In this research study, the lightweight polymer composite material is analyzed using K29 type Kevlar fiber, and jackfruit rags-extracted cellulose particles reinforced in LY 556 types of epoxy resin, along with hardener HY 951 Triethylenetetramine (TETA), were used for curing the composite. Both the fiber and cellulose particles were treated with 3 wt.% of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane added to the prepared ethanol solution mixture. The composite is fabricated using the hand layup method, and according to ASTM, the composite performance is analyzed. Based on the obtained results, the reinforcement of 40 vol.% of surface-modified Kevlar fiber and 1 vol.% of surface-modified cellulose particle into the composite N2 shows improved tensile, flexural, and fatigue strength of 186[Formula: see text]MPa, 212[Formula: see text]MPa, and 20,815 life counts for 50% of UTS, respectively, which shows strong interfacial bonding and facilitating effective stress transfer; this matrix-reinforced fiber and filler particle lowers the concentration of stress in the resin and improves tensile, flexural properties, and cyclic load-bearing properties of the composite. Furthermore, the addition of 2 vol.% of surface-treated cellulose particle and 40 vol.% kevlar fiber into the composite N3 shows an impact energy of 6.5[Formula: see text]J, hardness strength of 94 shore-d, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) of storage modulus 5.8[Formula: see text]GPa, a loss factor of 0.52, an improved fracture toughness of 89.45[Formula: see text]MPa, and an energy released rate of 0.852 (MJ/m[Formula: see text]. The main reason for such an increment is because of better interfacial bonding and the promotion of even dispersion of filler particles throughout the matrix. Further, this study also promotes futuristic studies on the polymer composite by using various biomass-extracted filler particles as reinforcing substances.