EXAMINE AND FABRICATION OF

CONNECTING ROD BY COMPOSITE

MATERIALS LIKE LOTUS FIBER, BANANA
FIBER USING MATRIX COMPOSITES
 ABSTRACT

• The connecting rod is a component which connects the

reciprocating piston to the linear crankshaft, transmitting the piston
motion to crankshaft. In automobile engineering field, every vehicle
runs on I.C. engine and uses at least one connecting rod. Due to the
fuel consumption more number of compressive and tensile forces
acting on the connecting rod. Due to the magnitude of such forces,
failure can be occur. To avoid this, the existing connecting rod is
replaced by composite materials. Because the composite material
have good characteristics such as wear resistance, hardness, and
high tensile strength. The present paper is a review of the analysis
performed on connecting rod using various composite materials.
• We are fabricate the connecting rod in natural composite fiber
materials in the way of matrix composites method. what are the
natural fiber materials are used? The following name of fiber
materials are lotus fiber and banana fiber.
 INTRODUCTION
• In recent years, polymeric based composites materials are
being used in many application such as automotive, sporting
goods, marine, electrical, industrial, construction, household
appliances, etc.
• Polymeric composites have high strength and stiffness, light
weight, and high corrosion resistance.
• Natural fibres are available in abundance in nature and can be
used to reinforce polymers to obtain light and strong materials.
• The natural fiber present important advantages such as low
density, appropriate stiffness, mechanical properties with high
disposability and renewability. In this project are used the
natural fibre of lotus fiber and banana fiber using matrix
composites, .
 EXISTING APPLICATIONS
• Lotus and banana fiber reinforced composites in under-floor
protection for passenger cars
• Automobile parts such as rear view mirror, visor in two
wheeler, billion seat cover, indicator cover, cover L-side, name
plate were fabricated using sisal and roselle fibers hybrid
composites
• decks, docks, window frames and molded panel components
 PROPOSED WORK
• In a reciprocating piston engine, the connecting rod connects
the piston to the crank or crankshaft. In modern automotive
internal combustion engines, the connecting rods are most
usually made of steel for production engines, but can be
made of natural fibre composites(for lightness and the ability
to absorb high impact at the expense of durability) .Lotus
fibre ,banana fibre with addition of epoxy(for a combination
of strength and lightness at the expense of affordability) for
examine the engines.
 PROCESS FLOW
MATERIAL SELECTION
(LOTUS FIBER,BANANA FIBER)

SELECTION RESIN(EPOXY)

DIE MAKING PROCESS

ANALYSIS THE MECHANICAL PROPERTY

OF THE COMPOSITE
 REQUIREMENTS
• Lotus fiber
• Bannana fiber
• Epoxy
• Die
 LOTUS FIBER
• Lotus plants spread across all over India and related countries,
with planting area about large hectares. Each year, after the
flowering season, most of the lotus leaves and stalks are
degraded naturally, which result in a waste of resource. Natural
cellulose fibers produce from renewable plant resources,
especially from crop residues can help to mitigate energy and
environmental issues. There are a lot of fibers between lotus
leaves and stalks, be easily to be obtained. And it is renewable,
biodegradable, abundant in resources, more comfortable and
skin-friendly than synthetic fiber .
 BANNANA FIBER
Banana fiber is obtained from the superimposed leaves forming the
pseudo stem of the plant, which currently has no use, apart from a low
percentage dedicated to cattle feed. It belongs to Musa genre, as a
monocot . which are the most important producers of bananas in Asia. It
is important to highlight that fibers are obtained from the pseudo stems of
the plant once the fruit has been harvested, and that each plant only
bears fruit once; this is one of the main benefits of banana fibers in
comparison with other natural fibers, as this one is obtained from an
agricultural residue. The use of natural fibers as reinforcement of
polymeric parts has been widely studied, specially focusing on injection
molding technology. In fact, around 21,000 tons of natural fibers were
used Natural fibers are less harmful to humans, machinery and the
environment, thus being realistic alternatives to glass fiber
 COMP0SITION

• LOTUS AND BANNANA FIBER - 75%

• EPOXY RESIN - 25%

LOTUS FIBER
BANANA FIBER
BANANA FIBER
 PROPERTIES OF LOTUS FIBER
PROPERTIES VALUE

Density 1.184 g/cm³

Tensile strength 53 MPa

Young’s modulus 3.8 GPa

Elongation at break 2.75 %

 CHARACTERISTICS OF LOTUS AND
BANANA FIBERS
• It is highly strong fiber.
• It is light weight
• tough and durable
• unaffected by moisture and dampness
 PROPERTIES OF BANANA FIBER
PROPERTIES VALUE

Density 1.350 g/cm³

Tensile strength 56 MPa

Young’s modulus 3.5 GPa

Elongation at break 2.6 %

EPOXY
 EPOXY RESIN – INTRODUCTION
• Epoxy resin belongs to the principal polymer under the
term thermosetting resins, which covers a wide range of
cross-linking polymers including unsaturated polyester
resins, phenol-formaldehyde resins, and amino resins.
Thermosetting polymers form an infusible and insoluble
mass on heating, due to the formation of a covalently
cross-linked and thermally stable network structure. They
are generally amorphous and possess various desirable
properties such as high tensile strength and modulus, easy
processing, good thermal and chemical resistance, and
dimensional stability. The term epoxy resin is applied to
both prepolymers and to cured resins; the former is
characterized by a three-membered ring known as the
epoxy, epoxide, oxirane, or ethoxyline group
 EFFECT OF EPOXY
• Epoxy resins are a family of thermo set plastic
materials which do not give off reaction
products when they cure and so have low cure
shrinkage.
• They also have good adhesion to other
materials.
• Environmental resistance.
• Good chemical properties and good insulating
properties.
 DIE MAKING
• The tooling involved in plastic molding is quite
similar to that of stamping dies. The principal
difference is that stamping requires force, while
molding does not. In plastic molding, two units
are required whose design is such that, when
brought together, they make up a system of closed
cavities linked to a central orifice. Liquid plastic
is forced through the orifice and into the cavities,
or molds, and when the plastic solidifies, the
molds open and the finished parts are ejected.
 APPLICATIONS
• AUTOMOBILE COMPONENTS
• INDUSTRIES
• TIDAL POWER PLANT COMPONENTS.
 ADVANTAGES OF FIBER COMPOSITE
• As molded dimensional accuracy. Tight tolerance,
repeatable moldings.
• Chemical Resistance.
• Consolidated Parts and Function.
• Corrosion Resistance.
• Design Flexibility.
• Durable.
• High Flexural Modulus to Carry Demanding
Loads. High Impact Strength.
• High Performance at Elevated Temperatures.
 TESTS
• TENSILE TEST
• HARDNESS TEST
• TOUGHNESS TEST
 REFERENCE
• than, L.; Thomas, S.; Neelakantan, N.R. Short banana fiber
reinforced polyester composites: Mechanical, failure and
ageing characteristics. J. Reinf. Plast. Compos. 1997, 16, 744–
765.
• Ortega, Z.; Benítez, A.N.; Monzón, M.D.; Hernández, P.M.;
Angulo, I.; Marrero, M.D. Study of banana fiber
• Chen D.S., Gan Y.J., 2008, Lotus fiber and preparation method
and products. China, Paten NO. CN 200610140888.4
• Chen D.S., He J., Wang J.G., Gan Y.J., 2009, Research on the
shape of lotus fiber. Journal of cellulose science and
technology, 17(1), 57-60. DOI: 1004-8405(2009)01-0057-04