Experimental Evaluation of Impact and Thermal Properties of Abaca/Epoxy Composite

Natural fibre reinforced composites (NFRCs) are potential members for structural and non-structural applications in the automobile and aerospace industries. They are promising environmentally friendly materials and are likely to replace synthetic fibre-reinforced composites (SRFC). In this work, abaca/epoxy composites were fabricated using the hand-layup method. The impact tests (Charpy and Izod) and thermal stability test (TGA-DSC Analysis) were conducted on abaca/epoxy reinforced composite (AFRC) samples. The impact test is a standardized high-strain rate test used to determine the amount of energy absorbed by a material during fracture. The specific impact strength of AFRC is 80 N/mm and 10 N/mm For Charpy and Izod tests, respectively. SEM analysis revealed that fibre-pull out is a major failure. The thermal stability of AFRC is 650 ^oC, and the residual mass is 6.95%.