www.tjprc.org SCOPUS Indexed Journal editor@tjprc.org AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF BASALT AND BANANA FIBER REINFORCED HYBRID POLYMER COMPOSITES ADITYA DOGRA 1 , AKSHINA SONI 1 & YOGEESHA PAI 2 1 UG Students, Department of Aeronautical & Automobile Engineering, MIT-MAHE, Manipal, India 2 Assistant Professor, Department of Aeronautical & Automobile Engineering, MIT-MAHE, Manipal, India ABSTRACT Natural fiber composites are nowadays being used in various engineering applications for the fabrication of lightweight, low cost polymer composites. This is mainly attributed to the use of eco-friendly materials which are easy to use and dispose and has no negative impacts on the environment. The objective of this research work is to experimentally determine the mechanical and thermal properties of Basalt-Banana composite laminates and to find out the degree of improvement due to the addition of Basalt layers on the tensile strength, flexural strength and other properties of Banana fiber composite. Laminates were prepared by hand layup followed by Vacuum-bagging. Each laminate consisting of 5 layers in the intercalated sequence Basalt /Banana/ Basalt/ Banana/ Basalt. The results were finally compared with the existing work on Glass - Banana Fiber composites. KEYWORDS: Natural Fiber, Banana Fiber, Basalt Fiber, Vacuum Bagging & Mechanical Characterization Received: Nov 25, 2018; Accepted: Dec 15, 2018; Published: Jan 05, 2019; Paper Id.: IJMPERDFEB201925 INTRODUCTION The study of natural fiber composite is rapidly increasing in recent years due to the growing awareness of more eco-friendly products and to protect the environment. Researchers everywhere are focusing on developing new materials that would improve the eco-friendly quality of products. Natural fiber composites also help to control pollution problems which is the major source of pollution by the synthetic materials [1]. Banana fibers are most abundantly available natural fibers. Basalt fibers are generally used as an alternative to glass fibers due to many advantages. Natural fibers have many advantages such as low density, better specific tensile properties, low cost, non- abrasive to the equipment, less energy consumption, reduced health risks, biodegradable, less irritation to the skin, renewable and recyclable when compared to man-made synthetic fibers such as glass and carbon[2]. METHODOLOGY The banana–basalt fiber reinforced composites are fabricated by hand lay-up process then cured using vacuum bagging technique. Original Article International Journal of Mechanical and Production Engineering Research and Development (IJMPERD) ISSN(P): 2249-6890; ISSN(E): 2249-8001 Vol. 9, Issue 1, Feb 2019, 263-270 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.