Comparison of ANN and Regression Analysis for Predicting the Water Absorption Behaviour of Jute and Banana Fiber Reinforced Epoxy composites

The objective is focusing on the determination of physical property of biodegradable and easily disposable natural fiber reinforced epoxy composites for automotive, household and architectural applications. The jute and banana fibers are readily available and cheap when compared to synthetic and non-biodegradable glass fibers. However, all natural fiber composites absorb water in moist environment. The water absorption behavior of composites made from jute and banana fibers and epoxy is presented in this experimental characterization study. Water absorption test is performed by immersing composite specimens into water at room temperature until absorption becomes constant. The results discuss that jutefiber reinforced composite absorbs less water within a period of time. The work also reports a comparative analysis of two methodologies for the prediction of physical property of natural fiber composites. However, ANN gives better result than the regression. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.