Study on Distilled/Sea Water Absorption Behaviour Influenced by Non-Uniform Long Piled up Coir Fiber Composites

Long coir fibers tend to have higher strength than short coir fibers. Taking this into consideration non uniform long coir fibers reinforced epoxy composites impregnated with sawdust filler was fabricated using hand-layup technique as a result of polymer reduction. Moisture absorption test was conducted as per ASTM D 570 standard. Piled up coir fibers offer varying resistance against penetration of epoxy polymer matrix through the fibers resulting in Nonuniform bonding throughout the composite laminate. Water absorption pattern of composites exhibited Fickian behaviour at room temperature (27oC). Moisture absorption tes t in sea water and distilled water at room temperature showed higher value of moisture absorption percentage and diffusion coefficient due to weak bonding between fiber and matrix causing fiber to absorb more amount of water. Composite specimens were photographed to analyse the macroscopic defects during fabrication, machining and water immersion