MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF FLYASH FILLER IN NATURAL FIBER- HYBRIDEPOXY COMPOSITES
G.Raghavendra1*, S.K.Acharyar 2, S.K.Pal 3, S.Ojha4
1,4Research Scholar, Mechanical Dept, NIT Rourkela
2Professor, Mechanical Dept, NIT Rourkela
3Professor, Ceramic Dept, NIT Rourkela

E-mail:raghavendra.gujjala@gmail.com; 09778566667

Abstract
In the present investigation a new hybrid composites with epoxy as a resin and reinforcing both bio waste (jute) andindustrial waste (fly ash) and study of the effect of the fly ash filler on tensile and flexural properties experimentally.
Composites were prepared by using hand lay-up technique. All the laminates were prepared with a total of 4 piles. One
group of glass laminate was also fabricated for comparison purpose. Specimen preparation and testing was carried out
as per ASTM standards. Due to incorporation of fly ash fillers in to the jute composites there is 10 % of strength
increment in tensile and 20 % in flexural.

Keywords: hybrid, fly ash, jute, glass, tensile,

1. Introduction
The industrial and bio waste materials may becomethreat to environment if proper disposal/use of it is notfound out. A small amount of waste is utilized in different
purpose like making bricks, concrete, cement and roads
etc the rest is used for landfills or simply lying on the siteof disposal. There is a need to find out the other area foruse.Natural fibres also offer noteworthy cost advantages
and benefits associated with processing, as compared tosynthetic fibres such as glass, nylon, carbon, etc. When
compared to the traditional fibers the properties such as
tensile and flexural properties of natural fibre composites
are much lower. Another disadvantage of natural fibre
composites which makes them less attractive is the poor
resistance to moisture absorption [1]. Hence use ofnatural fibre alone in polymer matrix is inadequate insatisfactorily tackling all the technical needs of a fibre
reinforced composite. In an effort to reduce the traditional
filler and as well increase the utilization of natural bio
waste in the field of materials, a natural fibre can becombined with a synthetic fibre in the same matrix
material so as to take the best advantage of theproperties of both the fibres. This results in a hybridcomposite. The incorporation of several different types offibres or fillers into a single matrix has led to thedevelopment of hybrid composites. The total behaviour ofhybrid composites is a weighed sum of the individualcomponents in which there is a more favourable balance
between the intrinsic advantages and disadvantages.
Also, using a hybrid composite that contains two or moretypes of fibre, the advantages of one type of fibre could
neutralize with what are lacking in the other. As aconsequence, a balance in cost and performance can beachieved through proper material design [2]. Fly ash, awaste by-product generated abundantly in industries andelectric power plants, is a hollow micro-balloon ceramic.
Fly ash consists of inorganic matter present in the coalthat has been fused during coal combustion. It isprimarily composed of SiO2 and Al2O3. In recent years,
the utilization of fly ash as an additive component inmetal matrix composites and polymer-matrix composites
has received increased attention. Radically development
is largely due to the many advantages of fly ash such as
low density, strong filling ability, excellent fluidity, andgood processibility of the filled materials [3]. Fly ash has
been used as filler to increase the properties ofaluminium [4], polyester [5], epoxy [6], polyurethane andvarious rubbers. Furthermore, as a waste by-product, its
usage decreases the overall cost of the composites andthe pressure on the environment.
In this backdrop of utilization of the bio, industrial waste
and mainly to replace the traditional glass filler
composites in the industrial applications an effort is madeto fabricate new hybrid composites and studied themechanical and morphologies properties.

2. Materials and Methods
Raw materials used in this presentment investigation areJute fiber, E glass fiber, Epoxy resin, Hardener HY-951
and fly ash. The fly ash utilized in this study wasprocured from Rourkela steel plant of SAIL (SteelAuthority of India Limited), Rourkela, India.
Composites of woven jute and glass mat with 4 plies
were manufactured by hand lay-up technique. A wooden
mold of 150x60x5 mm was used for manufacturing thecomposite. For quick and easy removal of the composite
sheet a mold release sheet was put over the glass plate.
Mold release spray was also applied at the inner surface

7th International Symposium on Feedstock Recycling of Polymeric Materials (7th ISFR 2013)
New Delhi, India, 23-26 October 2013

of the mold wall after it was set on the glass plate.
Different composite samples with varying the fly ash
percentage fillers with 4 plies of jute as continues fibers
were manufactured for comparison purpose. Care wastaken to avoid formation of air bubbles during pouring.
Pressure was then applied from the top and the mold
was allowed to cure at room temperature for 72 hrs.
The tension test is generally performed on flatspecimens. The most commonly used specimen
geometries are the dog-bone specimen and straightsided specimen with end tabs. The standard test method
as per ASTM D 3039-76 has been used; length of thetest specimen used is 140 mm. A rate of loading of 10mm/min was used for testing. Flexural tests wereconducted as per ASTM D2344-84 standards.
Specimens of 140mm length and 15mm wide were cutand were loaded in three points bending with arecommended span to depth ratio of 16:1 both the tests
are performed in universal testing machine INSTRON
H10KS. Scanning electron microscopy was used in orderto study the fly ash distribution and the fiber breakage
under different conditions.

3. Results and Discussion

The flexural strength and modulus of unreinforced
epoxy resin is found to be 36.23MPa and 0.783GPa. The
variation of flexural strength and modulus for various
composites are shown in Fig 3 and 4, respectively. The
flexural strength and modulus is more for the composite
prepared with 10 % fly ash filler epoxy composite. The
10% fly ash filler jute reinforced composites gives 55%
strength of the glass fibers where as the pure jute gives
40% only.

(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 5 (a-d) Morphology of composites(d)Figure 5(a) shows the morphology of the 15 % fly ash
jute composite due to the more filler content voids areobserved. Figure 5(b) shows the morphology of tensile
strength of the glass fiber composites in this it isobserved that the breakage of glass fibers is observed.
Figure 5(c) shows flexural specimen morphology in thisdue to load the fiber bending is clearly visible the end
fibers are broken and the middle layers under gone
bending. Figure 5(d) show the morphology of jutecomposites due to ceramic particles bonding the fibers
are stretched to some extent is visible in the figure.

4. Conclusions

Figure 1. tensile Strength

Figure 2. Tensile Modulus

Based on this study the following conclusions are
drawn: By incorporation of bio and industrial waste in tothe polymer material the mechanical properties almostenhanced to greater extent. Due to incorporation of thefly ash fillers in to jute composite the tensile and flexural
properties increased. The 10% fly ash filler reinforced
composites give almost 55% of the glass fiber composite
strength

References

Figure 3. Flexural Strength

Figure 4. Flexural Modulus

The tensile strength and modulus of unreinforced epoxy
resin is found to be 21.28MPa and 0.528GPa. The
variation of tensile strength and modulus for various
composites are shown in Fig 1 and 2, respectively. The
tensile strength and modulus of laminate when only jutefibers are reinforced in the matrix is found to be 45% and30% greater than that of the neat epoxy resin. The
tensile strength and modulus of the jute composites isincreases as the fly ash content increases up to 5% for
10 and 15 % there is a slight decrease in strength thismay due to increase of ceramic particles. The 5 % fly ash
filler jute reinforced composites gives 50% strength of theglass fibers where as the pure jute gives 40% only.

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7th International Symposium on Feedstock Recycling of Polymeric Materials (7th ISFR 2013)
New Delhi, India, 23-26 October 2013