Design and development of false ceiling board composite material using pineapple leaf Fibre reinforcement in unsaturated polyester matrix

ABSTRACT In this research work, the design and development of false ceiling board composite from unsaturated polyester with pineapple leaf fibre reinforcement are discussed. The composite material was developed by the hand lay-up method according to the proportion of the fibre and the resin. The reinforced material is used at the fabric stage, and the structure of the fabric is plain mat weave. Hence, the optimum proportion of the raw materials was identified by using central composite design and the best results were 30 % reinforcement and 70 % resin with respect to the better value of physio-mechanical properties of the composite material characterised such as tensile strength, compressive strength, bending strength, water absorption and void fraction. The result showed that the maximum tensile strength is 43.13 N/mm2, the compressive strength is 39.78 N/mm2, the bending strength is 38.65 N/mm2, the minimum water absorbency is 2.52 % and the void fraction is 1.1 %.