Mechanical Characterization and Modeling of Sisal, Jute, and Coir Fiber-Reinforced Polypropylene Composites

Abstract More and more natural fibers are being integrated into polymer composites. Polypropylene (PP) composites strengthened with sisal(S), jute(J), and coir fiber (CF) are the subject of this investigation, which also delves into their production and properties. Fifteen, thirty, and forty-five weight percent of fiber were substituted in each instance. Following the correct protocols, the flexural, impact, and tensile strengths were determined. For this purpose, we employed FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) analysis to get insight into the coir fiber’s and polypropylene matrix’s chemical interactions. Composites outperformed pure PP in TS and Izod impact strength, even after reducing fiber percentage. Two theoretic models using the changed “rule of mixtures” technique were compared to the composites’ tensile modulus (TM). The modeling results were consistent with the experimental findings. The tensile strength (40 to 65 MPa), flexural strength (55 to 47 MPa), and IS (26 to 52 kJ/m 2 ) of the composites markedly improved across all fiber content variations compared to the pure polypropylene matrix, which exhibited a TS of 41.55 MPa, FS of 57.71 MPa, and IS of 27.43 kJ/m 2 . Moreover, a little enhancement in FS was seen for most of the composites, though not statistically significant. As a result of CF’s superior tensile strength, CF-PP outperformed the other composites in terms of mechanical attributes. Most of the time, the composite samples had T98 values (degradation temperature at 97% weight loss) that were higher than the 100% PP (500°C) matrix, varying between 535 to 545°C. The researcher can use this comparison to help them choose a natural fiber for fiber-reinforced composites that meets the product parameters.