Effect of Fabrication Parameters on the Mechanical Properties of Water Hyacinth Fiber-Reinforced High-Density Polyethylene Composite

Abstract

Abstract In this work, a natural fiber obtained from a water hyacinth (WH) plant was used as reinforcement in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) for the fabrication of WH/HDPE composite by the compression molding process. Fabrication parameters such as water hyacinth content, alkali treatment concentration, treatment time, and coupling agent amount were varied in three levels, and composites specimens were fabricated according to Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array. Grey Relation Analysis was used to optimize the fabrication parameters. The results showed that the increase in WH fiber volume fraction, NaOH concentrations, and treatment time increased the tensile and flexural strength of the composite up to some point and after that, it decreased. However, the strength of the composite was found to decrease with the increase in NaOH concentration and decrease in coupling agent concentration. It was revealed that the water hyacinth particle content had the highest contribution to tensile and flexural strength, followed by coupling agent dosage, treatment time, and NaOH concentration in order. Mechanical properties were optimized when the WH/HDPE composite was fabricated with 30% water hyacinth fiber, treated with 5wt% NaOH concentration for 12 h, and mixed with a 15% coupling agent. The fabricated WH/HDP composite can be used as a viable alternative material for making furniture, ceiling, tile, and partition boards