Study on Effect of Pista Shell as Filler Material on Mechanical Performance of Banana Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite

Recently, more research efforts have been initiated to improve the performance of composite materials due to their ever-increasing demand. A range of pre- and post-processing processes may be used to modify the biological, chemical, physical, and mechanical properties of any material. As a result, the primary goal of this study is to investigate the effect of powdered pistachio shells as a filler on the mechanical performance of banana fiber-reinforced polymer composites. The 10 wt.% of filler material, 30 wt.% of fiber and 60 wt.% of epoxy resin were used to prepare composite laminates using compression mould technique for rigid compaction of fiber and filler material. From experimental investigation, it was observed that the use of filler material improved the hardness and stiffness of the composite. The tensile stress was reduced to 22.97 MPa from 25.34 MPa and flexural strength was reduced to 36.76 MPa from 43.66 Mpa, respectively. The Young’s modulus was increased to 4.96 GPa from 3.23 GPa and flexural modulus was increased to 7.38 GPa from 6.21 Gpa, respectively.