Thermo-physical and Fire Properties of Natural Fiber Composites for Energy Saving Applications

Natural fiber composites are used in place of conventional materials for engineering applications due to their demand and imposed stringent government regulations across the globe. Thermo-physical properties are important in the selection of materials for energy saving applications. The objective of this research is to investigate the thermo-physical and fire properties of composites. In this study, vakka, elephant grass, and borassus fruit fibers are incorporated as reinforcement in the preparation of polymer composites. Thermal conductivity and specific heat of these composites were investigated experimentally by a guarded heat flow meter and differential scanning calorimeter. This investigation reveals that the thermal conductivity of composites decreased with the increase of fiber content and the quite opposite trend was observed with increase of temperature. At the maximum volume fraction of fiber, thermal conductivity of vakka fiber composite is lowest (0.179 W/mK) compared to other composites. The peak heat release rate and the flame retardant index are measured using Cone calorimeter and their values for vakka fiber reinforced composite is 373.45 kW/m(2) and 1.5. Among all the composites, the vakka composite is suitable for energy saving and fire safety applications. The composites developed in this study could replace petroleum-based insulation materials.