R. Vinayagamoorthy

Mechanical performance studies on Vetiveria zizanioides/jute/glass fiber-reinforced hybrid polymeric composites

In this study, a new biodegradable hybrid composite material is developed with natural Vetiveria zizanioides (vetiver), woven jute, and commercially available E-glass as reinforcing fibers and vinyl ester as the resin. Vetiver fibers are pretreated with distilled water and alkali followed by heat treatment. Nine composite specimens are prepared by varying the proportions of natural and glass fibers in each and maintaining the resin content as a constant. The specimens are tested for tensile, compressive, flexural, and impact strengths. The results revealed that the chemical treatment to the vetiver fiber shows a substantial improvement in the mechanical properties of hybrid composite material. Also, by proper selection of fiber proportions, glass fibers can be replaced by natural fibers without losing the mechanical properties.

Investigations of Damages during Drilling of Natural Sandwich Composites

The present research investigates the damage during drilling of natural sandwich composites. Three composite samples were prepared by using reinforcements namely vetiver, jute and glass in vinyl ester as matrix. Drilling operations were done on the composites and responses namely damage factor and surface roughness were measured. The responses were optimized in order to get optimal running conditions. Fuzzy modelling was done and its predictions of responses for experimental conditions were examined. A comparative analysis between the experimental, model and fuzzy was done. Confirmatory trials were made for optimum conditions and the responses were measured. Model validation was done by measuring the average error between the model and confirmatory and between the model and fuzzy. The errors were minimal and hence the optimization was accurate.

A review on the polymeric laminates reinforced with natural fibers

The use of composites in industries has become inevitable due to the enhancement in properties, reduction in the manufacturing cost and suitability to several applications. Among the different classifications, polymeric composites are majorly focused for their use as structural components. In a polymeric composite, the selection and composition of reinforcement play a vital role in deciding the characteristics of the composite. Although composites are developed with man-made reinforcement in the beginning stage, in the present scenario, natural reinforcements have proved consummate results in terms of properties. Hence, present day researches are mainly focused on the use of different natural fibers in different forms as reinforcements in polymeric composite. The present study gives a clear picture of various available natural fibers and how they are made in the form of reinforcement for composites. The study also explains the diverse pre-treatment methods used by the researchers for the enhancement of fiber quality. In addition, this review also gives a detailed insight of how the natural fibers are used in the hybrid form for the improvement of composite property.

Properties Investigations on Metallic Fiber Reinforced Sandwich Composites

The present study deals with the usage of two types of metallic reinforcements namely bronze and steel, one natural reinforcement namely jute and an artificial reinforcement namely glass for preparation of composite laminates. The study investigates the mechanical behaviour of prepared samples and concludes with the selection of best samples. Four composite laminates were prepared by changing the compositions of reinforcements in polyester resin. Tensile, compressive, flexural and impact tests were carried out on the developed samples and it was found that the inclusion of jute and metallic reinforcements improved the compressive and impact strengths of the composite whereas inclusion of jute and glass improved the tensile and flexural strengths of the composite.

Characteristic Investigations on Loofah, Jute and Glass Fiber Reinforced Sandwich Polymeric Composites

In this study, new biodegradable composites were developed with loofah, jute and commercial E-glass as reinforcing fibers and poly ester as the resin. Loofah fibers are preheated with distilled water and alkali followed by heat treatment in order to enhance its surface properties. Four composite materials are prepared by varying the proportions of natural and glass fibers in each and maintaining the resin content as a constant. The specimens were subjected to testing of mechanical properties namely tensile strength, compressive strength, flexural strength and impact strength. The results revealed that the mechanical properties like tensile, flexural and impact strengths were high when proportions of all fibers are equal. Also, compressive strength was higher with sample containing only loofah fibers.

Fuzzy Based Optimization of Thrust Force and Torque during Drilling of Natural Hybrid Composites

This investigation was done to study machinability during drilling on sandwichlaminates. Vetiver and jute were used as natural fibers and glass was used as synthetic fibers in vinyl ester matrixin the form oflaminatesby varying the fiber content in each laminate.The laminateswere drilled during which spindle speed, spindle feed rate, tool point angle and sample laminate weremodified using D-optimal design technique. During drilling of each hole, thrust force impressed and torque developedwere noted as outputs.The outputswere optimized to observe best drilling conditions.A fuzzy model was created and its predictions for trialconditionswere noted. A comparison between trial values, regression values and fuzzy values was made. Confirmatory trialswere madefor optimumset of runs and outputswere again noted.The percentage of error between the model, confirmatory trials and fuzzy were found to be meagre and hence concluded that the optimization was satisfactory.

A review on the machining of fiber-reinforced polymeric laminates:

Machining is an inevitable task after processing a material. Among the different materials, fiber-reinforced plastics are used as structural materials in different industries. Compared to conventional materials, fiber-reinforced plastics are less hard by its nature. Due to this reason, the cutting force required during machining a plastic material is lesser than that of other materials. Although the cutting force is less, the influence of other machining parameters on the ease of machining is to be investigated in order to reduce the machining time and cost. Hence, a review on the machining associated successes and failures will be helpful for the manufacturing sectors and researchers in line with the machinability. This review provides a detailed picture of various issues dealt during machining a plastic material. The influences of manufacturing methods on the machinability and machinability measurement methods are comprehensively addressed. In addition, this review also discusses about the influences of machining parameters and optimum conditions for machining. The review also addresses various statistical methods used, machinability enhancement methods adopted, and unconventional methods used in the various researches.

Influence of fiber surface modifications on the mechanical behavior of Vetiveria zizanioides reinforced polymer composites

ABSTRACT The natural fiber is pretreated with chemicals namely, alkali, peroxide, and benzoyl chloride. Composites are prepared using chemically treated fibers as reinforcements and mechanical characteristics are tested. The results confirmed that, benzoylation improved the tensile, compressive, and impact strengths of the composite by 113%, 56.78%, and 95%, respectively. Peroxide treatment has improved the flexural strength by 56.13% and improved the elongation of the composite during tension, flexure, and compression tests. The surface morphology showed minimal defects in the benzoylated composite and hence, benzoylation is suggested for the best overall behavior and peroxidation for enhanced bending and elongation.

Machining and its challenges on bio-fibre reinforced plastics: A critical review

Bio-degradability and sustainability have become major objectives in the field of materials engineering. Due to this, the utilisation of natural reinforcement is gaining immense attention among composite researchers. Among the different composites, polymeric composites are used as structural components. In the present day investigations, bio-elements are majorly utilized as reinforcements due to their properties and bio-degradability. Although polymeric components are manufactured in the shape of the final component, they need secondary processing to make it suitable for assembly. Hence, a review on machining and associated investigations on bio-composites would help the composites industries and upcoming researcher to know the scope of research and for selection of apt machining conditions. This review gives a detailed insight on the various machinability factors and their measurement, influence of machining parameters on the machinability and optimum conditions during machining of bio-composites. In addition, this review also presents about the importance of bio-fibre under various situations of machining and untraditional machining methods used for bio-composites.