Influence of redmud filler on Palmyra fruit and Palmyra fiber waste reinforced polyester composite: hardness, tensile and impact studies

The enhancement of composite strength by addition of fillers especially industrial waste attracts more attention. In this article, the effect of redmud (aluminium industry waste) as a secondary reinforcement on Palmyra fruit fiber and Palmyra fiber waste as primary reinforcement along with unsaturated polyester has been analyzed. Hardness, Tensile and Impact property of the Palmyra fibers with and without redmud have been reported. Palmyra fiber (both fruit and waste type) of length 30 mm and weight percentage of 50 % has been taken for this study. Also redmud of different varying weight percentages 10 %, 20 %, 30 %, and 40 % respectively taken to study its effect. It is noted that the Impact strength increases with more and more addition of redmud in both cases of fibers. The Tensile strength increases for 10 %wt addition of redmud in the case of Palmyra fruit fiber and 20 %wt addition of redmud for Palmyra fiber waste. The failure mechanism of the composites has also been discussed by microscopic studies.