Hybrid Composite Materials

T.Prabhuram

V.Somurajan

Department of Industrial Engineering,

College of Engineering Guindy,
Anna University, Chennai-25.

Department of Mechanical Engineering,

Anand Institute of Higher Technology,
Chennai-119
2
kvsraj.yadhav@gmail.com
3

S.Prabhakaran
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Sathyabama University,
Chennai-119.
3
prabhakaran.sk@rediffmail.com
composite, with long fibers of cellulose (a very complex form
of starch) held together by a much weaker substance called
lignin. Cellulose is also found in cotton and linen but it is the
binding power of lignin that makes a piece of timber much
stronger than a bundle of cotton fiber. The properties that can
be improved by a composite material include Strength,
Stiffness, Corrosion resistance, less weight and Attractiveness.
This paper discuss about the fabrication of Composite material
by using the Wood powder, Groundnut Husk and Cashew nut
Husk and analysis of its properties. The paper starts with the
Literature survey, Experimental details then presents the
Result and conclusion and ends with future scope of the
research.

Abstract - Composite materials are formed by reinforcing two or

more materials of varying properties. Our paper deals with the
analysis of hybrid composite materials. Hybridization is a process
of incorporating synthetic fibers with that of natural and metallic
fibers in order to yield better strength, stiffness, high strength to
weight ratio and other mechanical properties. This paper
concerns with the development of new hybrid composite
materials using Wood Powder, Groundnut Husk and Cashew nut
Husk. Based on the physical, chemical and mechanical properties
of the selected materials the required resins, catalysts and other
accelerators are chosen and fabricated accordingly. The paper
will present the Mechanical properties of the above mentioned
eco-friendly and bio-degradable composites and the best possible
applications of this composite materials.

II. LITERATURE SURVEY

Key words-Composite materials; Hybridization; Fibers and Resins

I. INTRODUCTION

Velmurgan.R et al (2005) [1] presents the mechanical

properties of the composites made of Palmyra fiber waste and
the glass fiber hybrid composites. Composites plates were
prepared with 30%, 38%, 45%, 50%, 65% & 70% weight of
fiber waste. Tensile, flexural, shear and impact properties were
studied. Composites with 58-65% wt of fibers showed
marginal improvement in flexural strength. Tensile strength
was decreased and there was considerable improvement in
shear and impact properties than that of resins. The properties
if the natural fibers reinforced composites can be improved by
hybridizing with high strength synthetic fibers such as glass.
Mechanical properties of the composites were found to be
increased with increase in the amount of glass fiber in the
hybrid. Hybrid composite containing 48% waste, 10% glass
fiber showed good reinforcement effect than the composites
reinforced with 11% glass fiber.

The sustainable worlds economic growth and peoples life

improvement greatly depend on the use of alternative product
in various fields. In an advanced society like ours we all
depend on composite materials in some aspect of our lives.
Composite materials are heterogeneous mixtures of two or
more homogeneous phases, which have been bonded together.
In composites, properties or set of properties can be attained
which could not have been obtained separately. Many in
nature occurring materials can be regarded as composite e.g.
bones, woods and others. Man-made composites are used
since thousands of years, e.g. straw and natural fibers in
bricks, laminated woods, etc. In the last century, the use of
composites has been extended after appearance of pneumatic
tyers for vehicles and reinforced concrete. The next step was
the development of glass fiber reinforced plastics during the
Second World War. In the 1970s and 1980s, new types of
composites have been developed to meet the strict
requirements of aircraft and space industries.

Mustafa Kemal Yalinkilic (2005) [2] discuss about the

Biological, Physical, and mechanical properties of
particleboard manufactured from tea leaves. The high phenolic
extractive of tea leaves, and their abundance as residual waste
at tea producing factory warranted studies on the utilization of
these waste in particleboard manufacture. Waste tea leave
particleboard (WTLB) is expected to be more resistance
against biological agent owing to high phenolic extractive
content. Mass loss of WTLB was 3.5 to 8.6 % with an epoxy
and 6 to 12.1% with paraffin added specimen. WTLB is

Composite materials are formed by combining two or

more materials that have quite different properties. The
different materials work together to give the composite unique
properties, but within the composite. You can easily tell the
different materials apart they do not dissolve or blend into
each other. Composite exists in nature. A piece of wood is a

978-1-4244-9082-0/10/$26.00 2010 IEEE

27

2). Cashew Nut Husk Powder Sample (D): The composite

material samples (D) made up of Cashew Nut Husk powder as
ingredient is prepared by using the following composition.
Then they are cut into different sizes for experimental
purpose.

resistant to decay type fungi. Tested physical and mechanical

properties of WTLB indicated that it perform as well as the
general purpose board designated in BS 5669.
Fraga.A.N (2005) [4] presents the Relationship between
water absorption and dielectric behavior of natural fiber
composite material. Gravimetric and dielectric measurements
have been used to monitor water uptake in composites with
glass, jute fibers. The results show that the dielectric constant
of jute fiber composites is higher than that of the composite
based on glass fiber. Also, when the frequency increase the
permittivity decreases. A Fickian diffusion model was applied
and the effective diffusion co-efficient was calculated. The
result shows that when the sizing is removed in fiber washed
with hot water, the effective co-efficient diffusion increases.
Changes in the dielectric permittivity were measured at
different frequency and at different times during water
absorption at room temperature. A non-linear behavior has
been found in the changes of the permittivity with water
absorption in the frequency range of 200 Hz to 1MHz.

Resin
Catalyst
Accelerator
C.N.H Powder

125ml
10ml
5ml
50gms

3). Ground Nut Powder Sample (C): The composite

material samples (C) made up of Ground nut powder as an
ingredient is prepared by using the following composition.
Then they are cut into different sizes for experimental
purpose.
Resin
Catalyst
Accelerator
G.N.Powder

III. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS

180ml
30ml
5ml
25gms

4). Wood & Ground Nut Husk Powder Sample (A): The
composite material samples (A) are prepared by using the
following composition. Then they are cut into different sizes
for experimental purpose.

In order to study the properties, the composite material

samples were prepared using the Wood Powder, Groundnut
Husk, and Cashew nut Husk, General-purpose resin,
accelerator and catalyst. We have used hand layup method to
fabricate the composites. The hand mould is prepared by using
acrylic sheet, rubber sheet and mould clamps. Then the
samples were tested to find its properties such as Tensile
strength, Flexural strength, load carrying capacity and
deflection.

Resin
Catalyst
Accelerator
Powder

150ml
15ml
5ml
25gms (each)

5). Groundnut Husk, Cashew Nut Husk & Wood Powder

Sample (B): The composite material samples (B) are prepared
by using the following composition. Then they are cut into
different sizes for experimental purpose.
Resin
Catalyst
Accelerator
C.N.Powder
G.N.Powder
W.Powder

150ml
15ml
5ml
40gms
10gms
15gms

6). Ground Nut and Cashew nut Husk Powder Sample (F):
The composite material samples (B) are prepared by using the
following composition. Then they are cut into different sizes
for experimental purpose.
Resin
Catalyst
Accelerator
Powder

Figure 1. Sample Preparation Mould

A. Samples Preparation.
1). Wood powder Sample (E): The composite material
samples (E) made up of wood as an ingredient is prepared by
using the following composition. Then they are cut into
different sizes for experimental purpose.
Resin
Catalyst
Accelerator
Wood Powder

150ml
15ml
5ml
25gms (each)

B. Observations.
The composite material samples of different size prepared
as per the above composition were subjected to Flexural and
Tensile test and the results were obtained and tabulated as
follows.

150ml
15ml
5ml
40gms

28

Figure 2. Tensile Testing Machine

Figure 3. Material Sample

TABLE.I.
FLEXURAL TEST (CUMULATIVE TABLE)
Material

Length
mm

Width
mm

Thickness mm

Load
Kg

Deflection mm

Strength
N/mm2

Modulus
N/mm2

Slope
Kg/mm

A5
A6
B5
B6
C5
C6
D5
D6
E5
E6
F5
F6

116
116
116.3
116.3
114
114
121
121
110
110
114
114

14.6
15.3
12.72
13.03
11.88
12.10
13.8
13.8
13
14.05
13.5
14.28

7
7.06
6.64
6.54
7.10
6.68
5.91
5.34
6.09
6.4
6.90
6.52

7.396
8.188
6.859
5.315
5.248
7.074
0.6174
0.7248
8.107
7.503
4.362
4.403

4.95
5.11
5.93
4.071
4.69
6.39
20.39
18.09
5.35
4.47
4.34
4.89

106.48
111.54
119.49
91.77
91.55
128.78
11.13
14.47
150.68
122.78
68.9
69.58

1106.39
1139.29
1198.29
1381.88
956.209
1115.25
46.18
82.84
1684.60
1487.64
823.452
826.59

1.4473
1.602
1.115
1.305
1.11
1.107
0.0302
0.0400
1.5153
1.6785
1.005
0.9004

TABLE II
TENSILE TEST (CUMULATIVE TABLE)

Material

Length
mm

Width
mm

Thickness mm

Load
Kg

Deflection mm

Strength
N/mm2

Modulus
N/mm2

% Elongation

A1

233

25.5

6.76

146.2

1.91

8.3201

569.09

0.819

A2

233

25.6

6.5

119.9

1.58

7.068

1105.39

0.678

B1

234.5

26.5

6.27

116.8

1.51

6.896

614.98

0.6695

B2

234.5

25.73

6.43

128.9

1.21

7.643

592

0.5159

C1

232

25.54

7.08

115.9

2.11

6.287

452.05

0.9094

C2

232

25.42

6.72

119.3

2.00

6.851

492.24

0.8620

D1

240

26

5.92

17.52

6.11

1.116

32.24

2.5458

D2

240

25.55

5.87

18.83

7.18

1.231

19.07

2.9916

E1

219

27

6.61

261.6

1.68

14.379

1030.63

0.7671

E2

219

25.5

6.5

249

1.76

14.737

739.819

0.8036

F1

230

25.5

7.04

75.89

1.28

4.1470

409.84

0.5562

29

IV. RESULT AND INTERPRETATION

A. Wood powder Sample (E)
The flexural strength of the composite material made of
wood powder, increases with increase in width for the same
length of the material. The load carrying capacity is higher and
increases with increase in width of the material. Tensile
strength is higher as it is capable of carrying a load of around
261.6 Kgs. The percentage elongation for the two samples is
more or less the same for same length of the material but for
slight difference in width of the material.

Figure 6. Flexure Strength Graph

B. Cashew Nut Husk Powder Sample (D)

The maximum load carrying capacity of the Cashew nut
Husk Powder composite is less (0.7248Kgs) but the deflection
produced is greater. This composite sample indicates the signs
of good inheritant properties of elongation. The flexural
strength of this material increases with increase in width for the
same length of the material. The flexural modulus varies for
even smallest variation in thickness for the same length of the
material.
Figure4. Tensile Strength Graph I

C. Ground Nut Powder Sample (C)

The maximum load carrying capacity of the Groundnut
powder composite is 7.074kgs for a deflection of 6.39mm. The
load carrying capacity for this material increases with slight
increase in width of the material. The tensile strength of this
material is better as it is capable of carrying a load of around
119.3 Kgs for a tensile strength of 6.85 N/mm^2. The flexural
strength of this material increases with increase in width for the
same length of the material.
D. Wood & Groundnut Husk Powder Sample (A )
From the flexure test of the Wood & Groundnut Husk
Powder composite it is inferred that the maximum load
carrying capacity is 8.188kgs for a deflection of 5.11mm. The
flexural strength of the composite material increases with
increase in width for the same length of the material. The
percentage elongation for the material is more or less the same
for same length of the material but for slight difference in
width and thickness of the material. The tensile strength of the
composite material is around 8.32 N/mm^2 as it is capable of
carrying a load of around 146.2 Kgs.

Figure 5. Tensile Strength Graph II

30

E. Groundnut Husk, Cashew nut Husk & Wood Powder

Sample (B)

VI. FUTURE SCOPE.

The maximum load carrying capacity of the Groundnut

Husk, Cashew nut Husk & Wood Powder composite is
6.859kgs for a deflection of 5.99mm. The flexural strength of
the composite material decreases with increase in width for the
same length of the material. The tensile strength of the
composite material is maximum of around 7.643 N/mm^2 as it
is capable of carrying a load of around 128.9 Kgs. The
percentage elongation for the composite material of two
samples has slight variation for same length of the material but
for slight difference in width and thickness of the material.

The load carrying capacity of these composites is very less.

In future, reinforcement of composite materials can be done to
increase the load carrying capacity. The work may be extended
by analyzing the corrosion and thermal resistant of this material
so that, it may find more applications. By changing the type of
resin, the application may be extended to prepare
biodegradable and eco friendly composite materials for
different applications.

REFERENCES

F. Ground Nut & Cashew nut Husk Powder Sample (F)

The maximum load carrying capacity of the Ground Nut
and Cashew nut Husk Powder composite is 4.403kgs for a
deflection of 9.89mm. The flexural strength of the composite
material slightly increases with increase in width for the same
length of the material.

[1]

V. CONCLUSION.

[3]

The hybrid composite materials using Wood Powder,

Groundnut Husk and Cashew nut Husk were fabricated and
their properties were tested in our research work. Normally the
wood posses good load carrying capacity. From the results
obtained by conducting the various test on the fabricated
material, we found that the composite material made of Wood
Powder and Groundnut husk Powder has better load carrying
capacity. The composite material made of Cashew nut Husk
Powder has good elongation properties and hence also not
easily breakable. In order to impart good elongation property
Cashew nut Husk Powder can be imparted with either Wood
Powder or Groundnut Husk Powder composites. The materials
which we have fabricated shows no good load carrying
capabilities, therefore the materials finds its applications in
such a place where minimum load is acting like switchboards,
photo frames, pen stand and other interior decorative purposes.

31

[2]

[4]

[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]

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