COMPOSITE MATERIAL USING BAMBOO FIBER WITH EPOXY RESIN (original) (raw)

The high cost of synthetic fibers such as glass, carbon, kevars etc, results in high cost of production and products derived from these materials which has necessitated alternative means of materials development. This has also informed the utilization of locally available bamboo fiber for composite materials development. Natural fiber has emerged as a renewable and cheaper substitute to synthetic materials such as glass, carbon and afraid, which are used as reinforcements. In this work, the objective was to develop, investigate and analyze the mechanical properties of a composite material using bamboo fiber polymer. The long bamboo fiber was extracted using chemical digestion and maceration methods. The fabrication of the composite was carried out using epoxy resin as the matrix and the bamboo fiber as reinforcement. Tests were carried out to determine the mechanical properties such as tensile, hardness and compressive strengths. The results were studied and compared with the conventional materials and it process that the material developed can be used in structural applications with strong dependence on its mechanical properties.