IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE)

e-ISSN: 2278-1684, p-ISSN : 2320–334X

PP 33-41
www.iosrjournals.org

An investigation of Mechanical characterization of Orange Peel

Reinforced Epoxy Composite
Katla.Praveen Kumar1, Chetty.Nagaraj2
1
Assistant Professor, Department, of mechanical Engineering, St .Peter’s Engineering College, Maisammaguda
(V), Medchal (M).Hyderabad.500014, Telengana, India.
2
Assistant Professor, Department, of mechanical Engineering, CMR Technical Campus Kandlakoya(V),
Medchal (M), Hyderabad- 501401, Telengana, India.

Abstract: Polymeric materials reinforced with synthetic fibers such as glass, carbon, and aramid provide
advantages of high stiffness and strength to weight ratio as compared to conventional construction materials,
i.e. Wood, concrete and steel. Despite these advantages, the widespread use of synthetic fiber-reinforced
polymer composite has a tendency to decline because of their high-initial costs, their use in non-efficient
structural forms and most importantly their adverse environmental impact. However, natural filler and fiber
materials are emerging as suitable alternatives to synthetic materials for reinforcing polymers such as epoxy
due to their environment friendliness, high abundance, renewability, and cost effectiveness. Several research
efforts have been put to study the effectiveness of natural fiber based materials on the mechanical behaviour of
epoxy composites, focusing mainly on fibers and their weight percent’s within the composites. The present
experimental study aims at learning Mechanical behaviour of orange peel reinforced epoxy composites and
effect of the weight percentage of the orange peel reinforcement was investigated experimentally on the
mechanical properties of the developed composites. The mechanical properties were tested using computerized
UTM machine as per the ASTM standards. Its biodegradability, low cost, and moderate mechanical properties
make it a preferable reinforcement material in the development of polymer matrix composites. Composites
having 5, 10, 20 and 30% weight fraction of orange peel specimens were made by using hand layup method.
The fabricated composite samples were cut according to the ASTM standards for different experiments. density
test, Hardness test were carried out at the samples. The maximum hardness, density, tensile, flexural and ILSS
are getting for the material prepared with the 20 % reinforced orange peel epoxy composite.
Keywords: Composites, density, Hardness, Mechanical Strength, orange peel.

I. Introduction
When two or more material with different properties is combined together they form a composite
material [1]. The composite materials have a higher strength than many other materials. Normally the good
quality fibers having highest cost,Synthetic fibers are non renewable fiber and the availability of the fiber was
also difficult. The constituents are combined in such a way that they keep their individual physical phases and
are non soluble in each other or do not form a new chemical compound. There are basically two category of
constituent material, one constituent is called reinforcing phase and one in which the reinforcing phase is
embedded is called matrix. The primary function of matrix is to hold the fiber to form a certain shape. Besides,
the functions of the matrix are also to transfer stress between the reinforcing fibers and to protect them from
mechanical and environmental damage. The function of reinforcing phase in matrix is to improve the
mechanical properties such as strength, stiffness etc. As per Berghezan [2] the composite material is to be
designed in such a way that the individual component retain their characteristic are so incorporated that the
composite take advantage of their superior properties without compromising on the weakness of either.
Among all reinforcing fibres, natural fibres have gained great significance as reinforcements in
polymer matrix composites. Depending upon the source of origin, natural fibres are classified as plant, animal
and mineral fibres. Recently, due to the growing global energy crisis and ecological risks, natural fibres
reinforced polymer composites have attracted more research interests. The main advantages of natural fibres are
their availability, biodegradable, renewable, environmental friendly, low cost, low density, high specific
properties,good thermal properties and enhanced the energy recovery, low energy consumption, non-abrasive
nature and low cost. Plant fibres are justifies their use as reinforcement for polymer composites due to their
renewability with good mechanical properties. It is also observed that natural fibres are non-uniform with
irregular cross sections, which make their structures quite unique and much different from man-made fibres
such as glass fibres, carbon fibres etc. As far as reinforcement is concerned fibers occupy the largest weight
fraction in a FRP composite and it share its major portion of the load that act on the composite structure. The
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 An investigation of Mechanical characterization of Orange Peel Reinforced Epoxy Composite

reinforcing fibers can be oriented during fabrication there by giving ample opportunity to the designer to tailor
down the properties in specific direction.

1.1 Objectives
The objectives of the present work are:
 To prepare the orange peel particulates of desired particle size. 
 To fabricate the particulate with different weight percentage in the epoxy matrix. 
 To study the density of different samples. 
 To check the micro-hardness of different samples. 
 To perform the tensile and flexural tests on the composite samples. 
 To conduct the SEM for the tensile and flexural tested samples to study the nature of failure at the
microscopic level.

II. Methodology
2.1 Materials
Raw materials used in this experimental work are listed below
1. Natural fiber (Orange peel)
2. Epoxy Resin
3. Hardener

Orange peel: Orange is a citrus fruit mainly originated in Southeast Asia. It is the most commonly grown tree
fruit in the world. Like all citrus fruits, the orange is acidic having pH range 2.9-4.0.

Figure 2.1 (a) Orange peels (b) Sun dried orange peel (c) Powdered orange peels

Orange peel, the outer cover part of an orange, mainly consists of cellulose, essential oils, proteins and
some simple carbohydrates. The orange peels were collected locally and were sun dried for 5 days. Sun drying
was necessary to remove the moisture from the peels. The fibers were then grinded into fine powder as shown in
figure 2.
The collected powders were sieved and a particle size distribution in a sample is given in Table-2.1.
Since the wt% of 212+ microns was around 74.6grams, for the present investigation we have taken this particle
size for further experimentation.

sample size in Sample size appro.wt. weight%

No micron +micron in.grams
1 --- 1700 22.25 18.12
2 ---- 212 74.6 67.16
3 212 150 4.87 4.38
4 150 106 4.17 3.75
5 106 --- 5.18 4.66
Total 111.07
Table 2.1 Particles Size

2.2 Epoxy Resin

The type of epoxy resin used in the present investigation is araldite LY556 which is chemically belongs to
epoxide family. Its common name is BisPhinol-A-Diglycidyl-Ether. It is supplied by CIBA GUGYE India
Limited.

2.3 Hardener
The hardener with IUPAC name NNO-bis (2aminoethylethane-1,2diamin) has been used with epoxy designated
as HY951. This has a viscosity of 10-20 M Pa at 25ºC.

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 An investigation of Mechanical characterization of Orange Peel Reinforced Epoxy Composite

2.4 Composite preparation

A Per-pex sheet mould (dimension 130x100x6 mm) figure-2.2 has used for casting the composite
sheet. A mould release spray was applied at the inner surface of the mould for quick and easy release of the
composite sheet. A calculated amount of epoxy resin and hardener (ratio of 10:1 by weight) was taken and
mixed with orange peel particulate with gentle stirring to minimize air entrapment. After keeping the mould on a
glass sheet (coated with wax) the mixture is then poured into it. Care was taken to avoid formation of air
bubbles. Pressure applied from the top, and the mould was allowed to cure at room temperature for 72 hrs.
During application of pressure some amount of epoxy and hardener squeezes out. Care has been taken to
consider this loss during manufacturing so that a constant thickness of sample could be manufactured. This
procedure was adopted for preparation of 5, 10, 20 and 30% weight fractions of orange peel. After 72 hrs the
samples were taken out of the mould, cut into different sizes and kept in air tight container for further
experimentation.

Figure 2.2 (a) Mould (b) Tensile test specimen (c) Flexural test specimen

(d) Hardener and Araldite (Epoxy resin)

III. Testing of Mechanical Properties

After fabrication , the test specimens were subjected to various Mechanical testing as per ASTM
standards. The mechanical tests that carried out Density measurement Hardness test, Tensile test, Flexural test.
The entire specimens were of rectangular cross section of size 150x20x5 mm.

Density Measurement
The density of composite materials in terms of volume fraction is found out from the following equations

w0
sct  w  w  w  (3.1)
o a b

Where ρct‟ represents specific gravity of the composite,

W0 represents the weight of the sample; Wa represents the weight of the bottle + kerosene,
Wb represents the weight of the bottle + kerosene + sample,

Density of composite = Sct * density of kerosene. (3.2)

The theoretical density of composite materials in terms of weight fraction is found out from the following
equations as given by Agarwal and Broutman [3].
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 An investigation of Mechanical characterization of Orange Peel Reinforced Epoxy Composite

ρ
ct   W   W  (3.3)
f m
   
   
 ρf   ρm 

Where „W’ and „ρ‟ represents the weight and density respectively. The suffix f, m and ct stand for the fiber,
matrix and the composite materials.

The void content of composite sample has been determined as per ASTM D-2734-70 standard procedure
respectively. The volume fraction of voids (Vv) in the composites was calculated by using equation:
where ρt and ρa are the theoretical and actual density of composite respectively

(3.4)

Hardness Test
Leitz Micro –hardness tester was used for Hardness measurement. This tester had a diamond indentater, in the
form a right pyramid with a square base and an angle 136° between opposite faces, is forced in to the material
under a load ranging from 0.3 to 3 N. Vickers hardness number is calculated by using the following equations.

L = (X+Y)/2 (3.5.a)

Hv = 0.1889 F/L² (3.5)

Where „F‟ is the applied load, „L‟ is the diagonal of square impression (mm), „X‟ is the horizontal length
(mm), and „Y‟ is the vertical length (mm).

Tensile Test
The tension test is generally performed on flat specimens. The most commonly used specimen
geometries are the dog-bone specimen, figure-3.1, and straight-sided specimen with end tabs. The standard test
method as per ASTM D3039-76 has been used. The length of the test specimen used is 150 mm. The tensile test
is performed in universal testing machine (UTM). The tests were performed with a cross head speed of
0.5mm/min. For each test composite of four samples were tested and average value was taken for analysis.
Figure 3.2(a, b) shows the machine used for the test and the sample in loading condition.

Figure- 3.1 Dog bone shape of the tensile testing sample

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 An investigation of Mechanical characterization of Orange Peel Reinforced Epoxy Composite

Figure 3.2 (a) UTM Machine Sample holde (b) UTM Machine Sample Loaded

Flexural Strength
The three point bend test was carried out in UTM machine in accordance with ASTM D2344-84 to
measure the flexural strength of the composites. The loading arrangement for the specimen and the photograph
of the machine used are shown in Figure-3.3(a) and (b) respectively. The entire specimens were of rectangular
cross section of (150x20x5) mm. A span of 100 mm was used for the test specimen. The specimens were tested
at a crosshead speed of 0.5mm/min. The flexural stress in a three point bending test is found out by using
equation (3.6)

Where F is the load, b is the width and t is the thickness of the specimen under test.

The short beam shear tests (SBS) are performed on the composite samples at room temperature to
evaluate the value of inter-laminar shear strength (ILSS). It is three point bending test which generally promotes
failure by inter-laminar shear. The SBS test is conducted as per ASTM standard using the same UTM, span
length 100mm and cross head speed 0.5mm/min.

The inter-laminar shear strength (ILSS) is found out by using the equation (3.7)

3F
ILSS=
4b.t (3.7)

Where F is the maximum load, b the width of the specimen and t is the thickness of the specimen.

Figure 3.3(a) the loading arrangement for the flexural testing Figure 3.3 (b) Flexural specimen loading position

IV. Results And Discussion

Density Measurement
From the table 4.1 it is observed that the void fraction percentage of composite increases as the
percentage of reinforcement increases still the void content is very less so it shows that the composite
fabrication is done properly.
Figure 4.1 is drawn between the measured densities of the composites and weight fraction of the
composite. It is observed that as the reinforcement percentage increases in the epoxy the density increases
gradually up to 20 % and suddenly decreases at 30 % due to void percentage increases the void content increase
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[i- CAM2K16] DOI: 10.9790/1684-16053023341
 An investigation of Mechanical characterization of Orange Peel Reinforced Epoxy Composite

due to the weight percentage of fiber increases.

Table 4.1 Density of different Samples

Fiber content Measured Theoretical Volume fraction
(%) Density Density of voids (%)
(gm/cm3 ) (gm/cm3 )
0 1.082 1.100 1.636
5 1.0991 1.118918 1.7712
10 1.113 1.138498 2.239613
20 1.143 1.179788 3.118215
30 1.1398 1.224186 6.893266

Figure 4.1. Variation of density with different fiber contents

Hardness Test
Vickers hardness number is measured by Leitz Micro –hardness tester. The results are tabulated in the
table 4.2. Figure 4.2 drawn between the harness values of composite and the weight percentage of composite. It
is observed that as the reinforcement increases the hardness increases the maximum value is obtained for
composite prepared with the 20% composite.

Table 4.2 Hardness of different samples

Weight fraction of Vicker Hardness value
particulates
(%)
Neat epoxy 17.894
5 18.28
10 19.68
20 20.72
30 18.95

Figure 4.2 Variation of Vicker Hardness value with different fiber contents

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 An investigation of Mechanical characterization of Orange Peel Reinforced Epoxy Composite

Tensile Test
The results of tensile test using UTM are tabulated in Table 4.3. From figure 4.3 it is observed that the tensile
strength is maximum for the composite prepared with 20% fiber However, for 30% fiber composite the tensile
strength decreases because of the void content.

Weight percent Tensile Stress Tensile Modulus

of fiber (MPa) (MPa)
Neat epoxy 18.031 648.23
5% 19.25 742.46
10% 22.69 1313.63
20% 25.85 1271.69
30% 21.34 938.96
Table 4.3 Tensile Stress and Tensile Modulus of composites

Figure 4.3 Variation of Tensile strength with different fiber contents

Flexural Test
The three point bend test was carried out in UTM 201 machine in accordance with ASTM D2344-84 to
measure the flexural strength of the composites. The flexural strength, flexural modulus and ILSS values are
tabulated in Table 4.4. From the table, it is observed that the composite having 20% fiber content has the highest
values of flexural strength, flexural modulus and ILSS. Figures 4.4 and 4.5 it is observed that the flexural and
ILSS values are getting maximum for the composite prepared with 20 % fiber.

Table 4.4 Flexural properties of the composites

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 An investigation of Mechanical characterization of Orange Peel Reinforced Epoxy Composite

Figure 4.4 Variation of flexural strength with different fiber contents

Figure 4.5 Variation of ILSS with different fiber contents

SEM Analysis
Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) of resin sample and its respective composites were taken on Leo
435 VP. Figure 4.6 is the micro graphs of the 20 % orange peel reinforced epoxy composite which is subjected
to tensile test. Micrographs clearly show that no debonding, no fiber chipping out and no crack formation it
shows that the bonding is strong between the matrix and reinforcement.

Figure 4.6 SEM micrograph of 20% orange peel composite after tensile test

Figure 4.7 SEM micrograph of 20% orange peel composite after flexural test
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 An investigation of Mechanical characterization of Orange Peel Reinforced Epoxy Composite

Figure 4.7 is the micro graphs of the 20 % orange peel reinforced epoxy composite which is subjected
to flexural strength micrographs clearly show that some bending of fibers are taken place but the fibers are not
come out from the epoxy it shows that the bonding is more between the epoxy and orange peel fiber.

V. Conclusions
The present work deals with the preparation of characterization of waste orange fiber reinforced epoxy
composite. The mechanical behavior of the composite lead to the following conclusions
1. With the successful fabrication of a new class of epoxy based composites reinforced with orange fiber.
2. The flexural strength and ILSS of the composite is found to be maximum with 20% weight percent of
orange fiber.
3. The tensile strength of the composite is found to be maximum for the 20 % weight percentage of the orange
fiber.
4. The hardness value of the composite increases with increasing of the fiber content.
5. SEM observation reveals that most of the fibers were broken instead of pulling out from the matrix. This
indicates a good bonding between fiber and the matrix.

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