A novel palm sheath and sugarcane bagasse fiber based hybrid composites for automotive applications: An experimental approach

A novel hybrid composite was developed from natural fibers and the mechanical properties were investigated in this work. The palm sheath and sugarcane bagasse fibres were the natural fibers used and epoxy resin was the matrix. By using compression-molding machine, various samples were prepared by varying the weight proportions of fibers. The performance of fibers was investigated under untreated and NaOH treated conditions. The tensile properties, flexural properties, hardness, and impact properties were evaluated using ASTM standards. The best sample was determined based on the experimental results. The best sample had the tensile strength of 19.80 +/- 0.78 MPa, Young's Modulus of 0.953 +/- 0.076 GPa, flexural strength of 28.79 MPa, impact strength of 2 kJ/m(2), and the hardness value of 38.02 HD. The best sample was used to develop an automobile dashboard to justify its application.