1 Effect of Fiber Orientation and Loading on the Tensile Properties of Hardwickia Binata Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites K. Sudha Madhuri *1 , Dr.H.Raghavender Rao 2 , Dr.B.ChandraMohan Reddy 3 1 Research Scholar of JNTUA, Ananthapuramu 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, G.P.R.C.E, Kurnool 3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, J.N.T.U, Anantapuramu * Email: 1 ksmadhurime@gmail.com Abstract—In the present research work a new fiber is introduced to find environmental friendly green composites, the effect of fiber orientation and fiber loading on the mechanical properties of Hardwickia Binata fiber reinforced epoxy composites is presented. Hardwickia Binata fiber is used as reinforcement which treated with NaOH solution for enhancing the bonding strength between fiber and resin by removing moisture contents. Samples at different orientations (0 0 , 30 0 , 60 0 , 90 0 ) and varying fiber content (0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%) were prepared by hand lay-up molding process and investigated tensile properties. The results of this study indicate at the 20% fiber loading and 0 0 orientation shows superior tensile properties compared to the other orientations and fiber loading. SEM analysis was carried out to observe the internal structure of the composites, delaminating of fibers, fiber pullouts using ZEISS scanning electron microscope. Keywords— Composites, Epoxy, Hardwickia Binata fiber, SEM, Tensile strength 1. Introduction Since the past few decades natural fibers are being used as an alternative reinforcement for industrial fibers in many applications like structural, aerospace, sports, packaging and automotive industries[1]. Though there are some disadvantages of natural fiber reinforced polymer composites like moisture absorption, compatibility between fiber and resin which affects the strength of the polymer composites[3].This can be improved by chemical treatments(removing dirt and other particles present in the fiber),manufacturing process, reinforcement etc. Apart from these there are factors like fiber orientation, fiber content, polymers, fillers etc. Fiber orientation and fiber loading mainly influences the tensile properties in any natural fiber reinforced polymer composites. Tensile properties of the polymer composites are increased by adding fiber since fiber has good strength and stiffness compared to the polymer itself. Unidirectional fiber has much strength compared to short fiber reinforced natural composites [4]. Ramesh et.al found the tensile properties of sisal, jute and glass fiber reinforced hybrid composites in 0 0 and 45 0 orientations and concluded that fiber orientation and fiber loading plays an important role in tensile strength analysis [7]. Li et al studied that by increasing the flax fiber resulted in increasing tensile properties [8]. Ma X et.al studied the tensile properties of micro winceyette fiber with the increase fiber content, the tensile strength was approximately tripled to 150MPa [9]. Venkateshwaran et.al found the tensile properties of banana reinforced epoxy composites varying fiber length and content and found that at 15mm fiber length and 16% fiber loading gives maximum strength [10]. Shanmugam et.al treated palmyra leaf stalk fibers and jute fibers and used as reinforcement in polyester matrix composites to improve the tensile properties [11]. Palanikumar et.al studied tensile properties of sisal and glass hybrid composites in longitudinal and transverse directions and concluded that tensile strength in longitudinal is high compared to transverse direction [12]. Silva et al. found the effects of silica micro particles on the tensile properties of banana fibers reinforced epoxy composites and evaluated, significant increase in tensile strength were found [13]. In the present work Tensile properties were investigated varying fiber orientation and loading and evaluated that the maximum strength of the fiber is at 0 0 fiber orientation and at 20% fiber loading and suggested that Hardwickia Binata fiber as an eco-friendly green composite and used as an alternative for synthetic fibers. 2. Materials and Methods A. Materials In the current research work, Hardwickia Binata fibers are used as the reinforcement. Matrix, Araldite LY-556 and hardener HY-951, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is used as mould releasing agent, glass moulds for fabrication. Physical properties of Hardwickia Binata fiber were mentioned below in Table: 1 Table: 1 Physical Properties of Hardwickia Binata Fiber International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Volume 117 No. 10 2017, 57-61 ISSN: 1311-8080 (printed version); ISSN: 1314-3395 (on-line version) url: http://www.ijpam.eu doi: 10.12732/ijpam.v117i10.11 Special Issue ijpam.eu 57