Abstract:
Composne materials involve a system where reinforcing material is added to a
plastic resin matrix. Resin is reinforced with fiber or other fillers, to overcome the
fatigue failure, to resist a corrosive environment, to improve the physical and
mechanical properties and to develop energy absorption capacity of the
composite.
This paper presents an analysis of the mechanical properties of the High Density
Polyethylene and its jute fiber-reinforced polymeric composite. A number of
HOPE resin matrix specimens were manufactured on a hand injection-molding
machine. Here jute fibers were employed as a filler material. Jute is an attractive
natural fiber for use as reinforcement in composite because of its low cost,
renewable nature and much lower energy requirement for processing. The jute
fibers were straightly reinforced to the HOPE resin matrix to fabricate the
composite specimens. Tensile tests were carried on a universal testing machine
to find out and compare the mechanical properties. The test results indicate
significant improvement in mechanical properties of the composite as compared
to HDPE. Microscopic tests were carried out to observe of the fractured planes of
the specimens and the fracture mechanism was identi1ied