A Study on Tensile Strength Attributes of Jute Fiber-Reinforced Polyester Composite

Natural fiber have shown great advantages over synthetic fibers due to the ease of its availability. The alkali treatment for these fibers enhances the surface modification, which improves the adhesion between fiber and matrix in turn greatly enhances the tensile strength. In the present study, tensile strength attributes of alkali-treated jute fiber-reinforced polyester composites of 3-mm and 5-mm thickness were discussed. Here, the NaOH concentration ranges for the treatment of fibers from 5 to 15% at a soaking period of 3 h to 15 h is reported. Results have shown that the optimum tensile strength is obtained for 10% NaOH-treated jute fiber which is soaked for 9 h. Statistical analysis of experimental results contributes to predicting tensile strength at desired fiber volume fraction, NaOH concentration and soaking period. The usage of natural fibers as reinforcement during the manufacturing of composites increases the usage of agricultural debris and byproducts, and farmers can get the benefits from this. Here the artificial neural network (ANN) approach is also adopted to predict the tensile strength attributes beyond the experimental investigation ranges. It resulted in the characterization of tensile strength attributes of jute polymer composite less expensive. ANN exhibited a similar trend as experimental investigation.