Abstract

Bermuda grass root fibers were comprehensively characterized to access their potential as reinforcement materials in polymer composites. An experimental study has been conducted to investigate the mechanical properties of polymer composites made by reinforcing Bermuda grass root fiber as a new natural fiber as a polyester resin. The fiber is extracted from retting and manual process. The fibers were alkali treated using NaOH solutions of various concentrations and subjected to single fiber testing. To fabricate the polymer composites, bermuda grass root fiber and polyester resin were used as reinforcement and matrix respectively. The test specimen is prepared as per ASTM standard to study the tensile and impact behavior. The tensile and impact strength value increases to a certain threshold value with increase in the fiber volume fraction and later decreases. The tensile strength and impact strength was obtained maximum for 25% fiber loading.

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