Effects of Unidirectional Untreated Tiger Grass Fiber Reinforcement on Tensile Strength and Water Absorption of Epoxy Resin Composites

Abstract:

Natural fibers are considered as alternative reinforcements in composites due to their accessibility, affordability, renewability and potential positive effects on some properties. Sources of these fibers include bast, leaf, seed and grass. In this paper, untreated tiger grass fiber, which is typically used as material in soft brooms, has been reinforced in epoxy resin with varying loading of 0 %, 5 %, 10 %, 15 % and 20 % by mass of matrix. For the composite manufacturing, the samples were prepared with the use of silicone molds and were subjected to tensile and water absorption tests. Based from the results, the tiger grass fiber reinforcement has provided significant improvements on tensile strength. The sample with 20 % fiber content achieved the maximum strength of 42 MPa which correspond to about 91 % enhancement as compared to the plain sample. This could be associated with the stress transfer between the unidirectional fibers and the epoxy matrix. As for water absorption, all composites only attained minimal mean values that ranges from 0.035 % to 0.063 %. This could be linked to the water-resistant characteristic of the matrix that protected the reinforcing fibers from being exposed directly to water.

• Periodical: Advances in Science and Technology (Volume 175)
• Pages: 67-72
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-oJmLX7
• Online since: May 2026
• Authors: Jerome D. Lopena*, Darryl Dave M. Banaag, Kevin Christienne M. de Jesus, Casimir Jonathan Hernandez, Faith C. Obina
• Keywords: Composite Manufacturing, Epoxy, Fiber Loading, Natural Fiber, Tiger Grass

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