Impact Evaluation of Corn Husk Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Natural lignocellulosic fibers (NFLs) are considered a promising alternative to synthetic fibers in compositeComposites materials due to their economic, technical, environmental, and social advantages. In this study, corn stalk husk, an abundant and significant part of corn, was investigated as reinforcement in epoxyEpoxy resin compositesComposites. The addition of 10, 20, and 30 vol% cornstalk husk was performed and the properties related to impact strength were evaluated in Izod and Charpy configurations, according to ASTM-D256 and ASTM-D6110 standards. Ten impact specimens were tested for each level of fiber reinforcement (vol%). The results revealed that the incorporation of 30 vol% cornstalk husk as reinforcement in the compositesComposites resulted in a significant increase in toughness, evidenced by Izod and Charpy impact test. All results were statistically analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA), with a 95% confidence level.