• Mechanical and Morphological Characterization of Chemically Treated Musa/Basalt Fiber Reinforced Phenolic Hybrid Composites for Semi-Structural Applications

  • Ramakrishnan Maniram† , Kalimuthu Ramanathan, Raman Sakthi Sadhasivam*, and Murugesan Kantha Shoba

  • Department of Mechanical Engineering, Alagappa Chettiar Government College of Engineering and Technology, Karaikudi 630003, India
    *Department of Mechanical Engineering, Saveetha School of Engineering, SIMATS, Chennai 602105, India

  • 화학 처리된 바나나/현무암 섬유 강화 페놀계 하이브리드 복합재료의 기계적 및 형태학적 특성 평가

  • Reproduction, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form of any part of this publication is permitted only by written permission from the Polymer Society of Korea.

Abstract

This study reports the development and characterization of phenolic-based hybrid composites reinforced with acetic acid-treated Musa fibers and basalt fibers. Nine formulations with different Musa/basalt weight ratios (100/0 to 0/100) were fabricated by compression molding and tested for tensile, flexural, impact, and morphological properties. The hybrid composite with 75 wt.% Musa and 25 wt.% basalt fibers (S7) exhibited the highest tensile strength (15.3 MPa) and flexural strength (27.1 MPa), representing 86% and 44% improvements over the Musa-only composite, and achieved a maximum impact strength of 76.57 kJ/m². These improvements are attributed to effective fiber bridging, crack deflection, and enhanced fiber–matrix adhesion, as confirmed by SEM analysis. The results demonstrate that Musa–basalt phenolic composites possess mechanical characteristics suitable for sustainable engineering applications.


Keywords: musa fiber, basalt fiber, hybrid composite, mechanical properties, sustainable, phenolic resin.

  • Polymer(Korea) 폴리머
  • Frequency : Bimonthly(odd)
    ISSN 2234-8077(Online)
    Abbr. Polym. Korea
  • 2025 Impact Factor : 1.0
  • Indexed in SCIE

This Article

  • 2026; 50(5): 754-761

    Published online Sep 25, 2026

  • 10.7317/pk.2026.50.5.754
  • Received on May 20, 2026
  • Revised on Jul 13, 2026
  • Accepted on Jul 14, 2026

Correspondence to

  • Ramakrishnan Maniram

  • Department of Mechanical Engineering, Alagappa Chettiar Government College of Engineering and Technology, Karaikudi 630003, India

  • E-mail: bahuram1998@gmail.com