Characterization of indentation damage resistance and thermal diffusivity of needle‐punched Musa sapientum cellulosic fiber/unsaturated polyester composite laminates using IR thermography

Abstract This work focuses on the evolution of a novel technique, employed to fabricate a plant fiber‐reinforced composites without any hazardous chemical treatment for alternative carcinogenic synthetic fiber‐reinforced polymer composites. The fibers were extracted from the agro‐waste pseudostem of banana plant. Anatomical studies were carried out on fibers to ratify their reinforcement potentiality. The cellulosic fibers were needle‐punched and commingled with unsaturated polyester for fabricating nonwoven needle‐punched banana fiber composites (NPBFC). Quasistatic indentation tests were conducted for inducing damage on NPBFC, random banana fiber composites (RBFC), and random glass fiber composites (RGFC). Mechanical parameters, such as, peak force, linear stiffness, dent depth, and absorbed energy were used for evaluating indentation damage resistance. However, the optimal properties were achieved at 40 wt% fiber content. The load‐bearing capacity of NPBFC having 2420 N is supercilious than RBFC and comparable with RGFC. Moreover, the extent of damage area and thermal diffusivity for optimized NPBFC are 178 mm² and 0.11 mm²/s, respectively, computed using infrared thermography technique. This result reveals that the optimized NPBFC has better indentation damage resistance and thermal insulating property than RBFC and RGFC. This study concludes that the synthesized NPBFC can be used for the application of industrial safety helmet and automotive parts.