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Published:
May 15, 2022DOI:
10.4314/njt.v41i1.16Keywords:
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Main Article Content
Improvement of quality characteristics of an epoxy-based composite reinforced with Sisal (Agave Sissalana) plant fibre for wind turbine blade material using Taguchi grey relational analysis
Abstract
Natural fibres are possible substitutes for glass fibre in composite production because of their light weight, ease of production and biodegradability. The present study involves the use of Taguchi grey relational analysis to optimize the production process parameters of an epoxy based composite reinforced with sisal fibre. The process parameters optimized are Percentage by weight of the sisal reinforcement, curing temperature, post curing time and compounding pressure. A Taguchi L16 orthogonal array was designed and sixteen experimental runs were performed based on the designed experiments. Tensile strength and flexural modulus (stiffness) were recorded for each experiment based on the average responses computed from the Taguchi grey relational analysis. From the response table of the grey relational grades, the optimal set of parameters for enhanced tensile strength and flexural strength performance of the sisal-epoxy composite were identified to be 35% by weight of fibre, 1100C curing temperature, 1hr post curing time and 13MPa compounding pressure. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to identify the predominant factor and established that percentage by weight W has the highest effect of 61 % on the GRG. The optimum composite material had the following values, Ultimate Tensile Strength 27.22 MPa, Flexural Strength 51.84 MPa. The DMA results of the material showed a glass transition temperature of 61.90C.
