Influence of Fabrication Parameters on Thermo-Mechanical Characteristics of Zea Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites

Researchers have made remarkable achievements in natural fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials based on their superior properties over other materials for usage in engineering fields over the last four decades. Agricultural-based residues are primarily available in various countries; Nowadays, these residues are used to reinforce fiber material for preparing composites. Zea is one of the agricultural residues-based fibers. The present effort investigates the thermal property, hardness, water absorption property, and dynamic behavior of the composite material in the form of plates comprising polyester matrix reinforced with zea fibers. These properties are characterized by the composite plate possessing superior mechanical strength. The reinforcements are randomly oriented in the polyester matrix which is manufactured by compression molding technique. The experimental results showed that the composite plate exhibited superior mechanical and thermal properties.