Rezaul K Khan^{1, 2}, S. M. Shauddin^1,, S. S. Dhar^{1, 2}, Mubarak A Khan¹

Non-woven jute caddies (JC, jute wastage) reinforced unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) and polypropylene (PP)-based randomly oriented discontinuous fibre composites with fibre loading 40-65% were fabricated by compression molding. The influence of the addition of fibre loadings on the mechanical properties such as tensile strength (TS) and tensile modulus (TM), bending strength (BS) and bending modulus (BM) and impact strength (IS) of the composites was investigated. Based on the fiber loading, around 55% JC reinforced UPR composite yielded better mechanical properties compared to the JC/PP composite. To improve the compatibility between fibre and matrix, the composites were irradiated with gamma rays (Co-60) of dose varied from 2.5 kGy to 12.5 kGy. Tensile and flexural properties of the composites were found to be improved significantly after irradiation. TS and BS of JC/UPR composites increased 29.86 and 14.60% respectively at 7.5 kGy while for JC/PP composites the increments were 21.69 and 7.78% respectively at 5.0 kGy. Water uptake tests of untreated and irradiated composites were carried out in deionized water where, the water-resistance properties of both kinds of irradiated composites were found to improve almost equally. Degradation tests of the composites were performed in soil medium and it was observed that JC/UPR composites lost much of its original strength and modulus compared to that of the JC/PP composites.

Jute caddies, unsaturated polyester resin, polypropylene, irradiated composite, mechanical tests