International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056 Volume: 07 Issue: 11 | Nov 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072 © 2020, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.529 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1101 NATURAL FIBER REINFORCED POLYMER COMPOSITES FOR AUTOMOBILE APPLICATIONS: RECENT TRENDS Sanjaykumar M Sajjan 1 , Vittal Kumar A Bongale 2 , Dr. B Yogesha 3 1 Student, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Malnad College of Engineering. Hassan ,India 2 Student, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Malnad College of Engineering. Hassan ,India 3 Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Malnad College of Engineering. Hassan,India ---------------------------------------------------------------------------***--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABSTRACT: In recent years, natural fibers are receiving more interest due to its numerous advantages like light weight, biodegradability, high specific strength, reduced cost, recyclability, mainly eco-friendly nature and these natural fibers are abundant and easily affordable, since automobile industry desperately need an eco-friendly product for their production. and for environmentally friendly future, natural fibers have a vital role to play. So Automobile industry not only finding it more convenient and feasible to use it as a reinforcement material but also a replacement for most of the synthetic fibers. and natural fillers in composite materials have not only reached the environmental appeal but also helps in developing materials with low density and improved properties. This study attempts to review the significance of natural fibers along with the natural fillers. And also this disclosure includes some different methods to improve the properties of natural fiber and a brief information about sustainable products that can be obtained by natural fiber reinforced polymer composites for different automotive applications in recent trends. Keywords: natural fibers, natural fiber reinforced polymer composites, automobile applications. INTRODUCTION From the past few years, automobile industries excessively using synthetic fibers, because of its various good properties, but synthetic fibers are neither bio degradable nor eco-friendly and they are expensive. generally, the common synthetic fibers used for automobile industries are glass fibers, carbon fibers and kelvar. but due to their high cost, researchers have changed their interest into developing materials from natural fibers. Since natural fibers are light weight, eco-friendly, bio degradable and have high specific strength. There are different types of natural fibers available in the environment like jute, sisal, hemp, kenaf, ramie, banana, coir, bamboo, abaca etc. which have their own significance properties. Natural fibers are generally categorized based on their origin like plant, animal and mineral and following that plant fibers further can be categorized on the basis where they are extracted from ie seed, leaf, skin, fruit, stalk and the composite which is reinforced by these natural fibers also have properties like renewable, unbreakable, durable, fire retardant, maintenance free and water resistant, less abrasive, acid-and alkali-resistant, less costly, with low thermal conductivity. Natural fiber reinforced polymer composites have strength properties comparable and almost twice as stiff as glass fiber reinforced polymer composites. These Natural fibers reinforced composites can be fabricated by using suitable matrix with addition of the filler to get the desired properties. enhancement of properties of natural fibers can also be done by different chemical treatments. Since the recycling ability of thermosetting polymers which is reinforced by synthetic fibers are low, but this problem can be overcome by natural fibers reinforced polymer composites which has tremendous recycling ability which is one of the main requirements of the automobile industries. And also fillers play a important role in fabrication since it has the ability to enhance the property of the material and desired properties for a particular material can be obtained by adding suitable fillers. Nowadays all the international automotive manufacturer companies have adopted new models of Natural fiber reinforced polymer composites for the production of different interior and exterior parts like panels of door, trunk liners, dashboard, seat backs, package trays, boot lining, rear storage shel, hat rack, spare tyre lining, headliner panel, spare wheel compartment cover, boot lining, noise insulation panels, moulded insulation.etc These Natural fibers reinforced polymer composites has not only have applications in automobiles but also in railway, truck industry, aircraft. And also in food industries, house hold products, and in different types of electrical, electronic products, and medical applications.