MY LATEST RESEARCH
Alkali treated pineapple leaf fibers (PALF) were used as reinforcement in an epoxy matrix. The prepared Epoxy/PALF composites were evaluated for thermal and mechanical properties. Increasing the fiber loading in Epoxy systems showed considerable enhancements in mechanical properties up to the optimum level as compared to the neat epoxy matrix. In this study, the long fibers were used in unidirectional to fabricate the composites using hand lay-up process. Embedded composites were characterized for Fourier Transform-Infrared spectra (FTIR), Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Mechanical properties like tensile, flexural and impact strength. The mechanical properties of the treated composites were observed to be good when compared to untreated composites and treated composites gave increased mechanical properties and there is no considerable changes in the thermal properties. A comparative study in the epoxy matrix using treated and untreated fibers is elaborated. The enhanced properties of the treated PALF/epoxy composites, increases the scope of the application in automobile parts.
Metal matrix composites are the resultant of combination of two or more elements or compounds, possessing enhanced characteristics than the individual constituents present in them.
This paper deals with the fabrication of Al 2014-SiC composite and investigation of its Microstructure and Mechanical properties. 2014 Aluminium alloy is characterized by good hardness. It is selected as the base metal. The Silicon Carbide is characterized by good strength and low density (3.21 g/cm3). It is chosen as the reinforcement. Silicon Carbide is coated with Nickel by electroless method to increase its wettability and binding properties. The fabrication of metal matrix composites is done by stir casting in a furnace, by introducing the required quantities of
reinforcement into molten Aluminium alloy. The reinforcement and alloy is mixed by means of stirring, with the help of a stirrer. The base alloy and the composites are then tested for mechanical
properties such as tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength and hardness. The fabricated samples have higher tensile strength and impact strength than the alloy. Microstructure of the
samples, are analyzed using optical microscope.
An acoustically and structurally effective drum shell is developed for a traditional Indian drum. The basicdesign concept is a sandwich structure composed of carbon fibre/epoxy face sheet and balsa core onwhich the drum head is attached. The drum shell structure was fabricated by wet lay-up and a vacuummolding technique. Sound characteristics were analysed for both composite and wooden drums. Mea-sured acoustical performance shows that the frequency response of the composite drum is comparablewith that of a traditional wooden drum. It seems promising that composite materials with high dampingcharacteristics could replace wooden structures used in musical instruments. Further, composite manu-facturing helps in bringing standardisation and uniformity to musical instrument structures.