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ABSTRACTThe main purpose of this research is to observe the effect of alkalisation of rattan, bamboo fibre, and eggshell particles addition in the fabrication of hybrid polyester laminated composite. A 5% NaOH treatment of fibres was conducted, and 5% eggshell particles was added to the composite. The FTIR analysis was done to reveal the presence of nanol, and thermal stabilities were evaluated by TGA, DTG and DTA. Furthermore, water absorption and biodegradability of the composite were also investigated. Mechanical properties were tested with compatible ASTM standards. The 5% NaOH treated 30 wt.% fibre- loading enhanced the tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength, and hardness by 9%, 2%, 7%, and 4%, respectively compared to the raw composites.  On the other hand, the addition of 5% eggshell particles decreased the tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength, and hardness of the raw 30 wt% fibre-reinforced composite by 5%, 4%, 3%, and 2%, respectively   In addition, the raw 30 wt% fibre-reinforced composite has the highest biodegradability, and water absorption percentage than the alkali-treated and eggshell added fibre-reinforced composite. The raw 30 wt% fibre-reinforced composite has dictated over the alkali-treated and eggshell added fibre-reinforced composite in terms of thermal stability.

ABSTRACTIn this present research, palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) and aramid fiber reinforced epoxy composite is fabricated by hand lay-up technique with equal fiber ratio (Palm:Aramid = 1:1) and fiber loading constituting of 0, 5, 10 and 15 wt.% fiber, where palm acted as natural fiber and aramid acted as synthetic fiber. The use of bio fibers as reinforcement in polymer matrix composites is thought to have better prospects in terms of showing high earmarked properties such as light in weight, lowest density, less costly, environmental conciliation, have sustained aspect for effective transfer of stress, etc. Mainly, the effect of fibre loading on mechanical properties (tensile, flexural, impact, hardness) and physical property (water absorption) is assessed in this research work. Experiments are directed according to ASTM standards for evaluating mechanical and physical properties. Surface morphological analysis is conducted through field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) for observing the fiber–matrix bonding on the tensile fracture surface. After evaluation, it is found that flexural, impact, hardness properties along with water absorption percentage have shown incremental behaviour with the enhancement of fiber loading. On the other hand, tensile properties have shown dissimilar performance with the enhancement of fiber loading.