Study and Fabrication of Fan Blade Using Coconut Leaf Sheath Fibre/Epoxy-Reinforced Composite Materials

Natural fibres have improved their availability in an extensive range of engineering applications at a lesser cost because of their enhanced mechanical properties. Natural fibre from coconut leaf sheath is capable of enhancing the characteristics of composite materials. In this work coconut leaf sheath strengthened with epoxy is woven into composites with different fibre weight ratios (20%, 25%, 30% and 35%) to determine the mechanical strength of the laminates. Sample test materials were prepared under ASTM guidelines by compression moulding. The outcomes of the tests showed that the composite with 30% fibre content exhibited the highest tensile and modulus of rupture of 25.76 and 23.27 MPa, respectively. The maximum energy absorbed by the specimen on sudden impact was 0.272 J. A scanning electron microscope was used to thoroughly investigate the fractures and failures in the laminates. Finally, the specimen that yielded the highest strength was chosen to fabricate a fan blade by the hand layup method. © The Institution of Engineers (India) 2023.