Design and Analysis of Mould for Maintaining the Longitudinal Integrity of Bio Fiber During Composite Fabrication

Natural fiber-reinforced composites (NFRCs) are becoming more and more popular as a result of their many benefits, including low cost, biodegradability, eco-friendliness, and a growing focus on the environmental and sustainability aspects of engineering materials. Natural fibers present in a short and unequal configuration in nature. Yarns are having an inherent twist in them because it is difficult to maintain the longitudinal integrity during the fabrication process. To keep fibers in desired orientation we have proposed a mold design, with provision for adjusting the tension in the fibers. As we tighten the fibers, force is transferred to the mould walls causing it to buckle. To avoid this, buckling load is calculated for different material, using Ansys software and Euler’s bulking equation. It has been observed that there is a consistent deviation of 18% in both the methods for 1 mm deflection, also there is no negligible impact of mesh sizing variation on the deviation remains almost the same. When the material of higher Young’s modulus is used the load bearing capacity of the mould increases.