INVESTIGATIVE STUDY ON THE ABSORPTION, MECHANICAL AND THERMAL BEHAVIOR OF GROUNDNUT/COCONUT SHELL POLYESTER COMPOSITE
Agricultural waste such as groundnut and coconut shell accumulates in environment which takes a longer periods of years to degrade due to high lignin content leading to environmental pollution. Its utilization in hybrid composite is been investigated for a sustainable and ecofriendly composite there by adding value to coconut and groundnut shell as well as reducing environmental pollution and degradation. This study involved the crushing and grinding of the coconut and groundnut shell to particle size of 250�m and mixed (ranging from 0 to 40wt %) with polyester resin using hand layup techniques for the formulation of the composite samples. The research evaluated important physical properties such as density and water absorption, mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural, hardness and impact tests and its thermal properties across the produced samples. It was observed that the density result shows an optimal value at Sample ?C? with density of 2.8g/cm3.The water of absorption increases as the weight of groundnut shell particles (GSP) /coconut shell particles GSP/CSP increases. The tensile strength decreases with increase in groundnut shell particles (GSP) /coconut shell particles (CSP)loading while the percentage elongation increases at low weight percent of GSP/CSP and decreases on further increase in weight fraction of groundnut shell particles (GSP) /coconut shell particles (CSP) with an optimal value 5.97% at Sample ? B?. Sample ?C? demonstrated an impact strength of 0.23 KJ/m�. The flexural modulus increases at low weight percent of GSP/CSP with maximum value at Sample ?B? with 14552MPa while the flexural strength showed an optimal value at Sample ?C? with 24526.91MPa. The result further revealed that the hardness also increases at low weight percent of fillers but decreases gradually on further increase in the filler with an optimal value observed at Sample ?B? of 10Hv.The thermal stability of the composite was experimented using Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) with Sample �C� showcasing excellent and optimal output with a storage modulus of 654Mpa-665Mpa at 41.9�C- 47.3�C, loss modulus of 267Mpa � 285Mpa at 80�C - 91.0�C and a loss factor (tan ?) of 0.390 � 0.399 with a glass transition temperature (Tg) at 119�C-124�C. Hence this results establish the utilization of groundnut and coconut shell powder in hybrid composite which enhances its absorption, stiffness, impact, ductility, hardness and thermal properties but reduces the tensile strength of the composite which can be utilized in mechanical, automotive, safety protective equipment, and sustainable construction contributing to advancement of engineering materials.
Authors : Adeleke, S.A., Hamza, Y.O., Sudi, S.D., Balarabe, M.A. and Mbada, N.I.
Category : Open Access Volume (Issue) : 11(2) Date Uploaded : 27th October 2025