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This paper presents an experimental study of epoxy and sisal fibre composites with and without potassium permanganate and stearic acid treatment. A compression moulding technique was used to develop the composites. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), tensile and flexural tests, and scanning electron microscopy were used to investigate the thermal and mechanical behaviour of these composites. SEM images of sisal fibres revealed improvements in the fibre's surface topography further to the surface stearic acid treatment process. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis reveals that sisal fibre is crystalline in nature. When sisal fibre was treated with streaic acid, the tensile strength increased to 43.45 MPa. Potassium permanganate-treated fibre reinforced composites demonstrated high potential flexural strength. SEM analysis revealed that stearic acid-treated fibre improved interfacial adhesion between the fibres and matrix.

An analytical study is conducted to examine the influence of thermal gradients and heat sources on the onset of two-component Rayleigh–Bènard (TCRB) convection using the Darcy model. The study takes into account the effects of local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE), thermal profiles, and heat sources. The composite structure is horizontally constrained by adiabatic stiff boundaries, and the resulting solution to the problem is obtained using the perturbation approach. The various physical parameters have been thoroughly examined, revealing that the fluid layer exhibits dominance in the two-layer configuration. It has been observed that the parabolic profile demonstrates greater stability in comparison to the step function. Conversely, in the setup where the porous layer dominates, the step function plays a crucial role in maintaining stability. The porous layer, model (iv), exhibits greater stability in the predominant combined structure, while the linear configuration is characterized by higher instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of the throughflow and gravity fluctuation on thermosolutal convection in an anisotropic porous bed with the Darcy–Brinkman effect is considered numerically. The critical Rayleigh numbers for the onset of stationary and oscillatory modes have been found via linear instability analysis. The impact of various gravitational functions in the presence of throughflow on stability is studied. The analysis has been carried out for decreasing and increasing gravity fluctuations. The convective problem has been numerically analyzed using a single-term Galerkin approach. The results show that the mechanical anisotropy parameter and Lewis number have a destabilizing effect, while the thermal anisotropy parameter, Darcy number, solutal Rayleigh number, throughflow parameter, and gravity parameter have a stabilizing effect on stationary and oscillatory convection. It is clear that the system changes in a way that makes it more stable for case (iii) gravity fluctuation and more unstable for case (iv) gravity fluctuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of a heat source and temperature gradient on Brinkman–Bènard Triple-Diffusive magneto-Marangoni (BBTDMM) convection in a two-layer system is investigated. The two-layer system is horizontally infinite and is surrounded on all sides by adiabatic boundaries. It is exposed to basic uniform and non-uniform temperature profiles and heat sources. The appropriate eigenvalues and thermal Marangoni numbers (TMNs), which depend on temperature and concentration, are obtained for the temperature profiles (TPs) for lower rigid and higher free boundaries with surface tension. The transformed system of ordinary differential equations is solved by using an exact technique. For all three TPs, the impact of significant relevant parameters on these eigenvalues, and hence on BBTDMM convection, are investigated versus the thermal ratio. It is observed that, by increasing the values of the modified internal Rayleigh number for the fluid layer and the solute Marangoni numbers, the Darcy number, and the viscosity ratio for the set of physical parameters chosen in the study, one can postpone BBTDMM convection. Higher values of the modified internal Rayleigh numbers for the porous layer augment BBTDMM convection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]