Optimization of Mechanical Characteristics of Rice Husk Particle Reinforced Polymer Composites Using Taguchi Experimental Technique

In this study a successful fabrication of rice husk filled polymer composites with different filler content was possible by hand lay-up technique. An experimental approach was used to determine the tensile strength & flexural rigidity of rice husk filled polymer composites using Instron Model 1122 testing machine (Instron Corp. Canton, MA). At last, Optimization of mechanical properties of rice husk filled polymer composites was done using Taguchi Technique. The analysis of means (ANOM) was done to find out the optimal parameter level & analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to identify the level of importance on the parameters on each of the properties. In the present work the ANOM results showed that the combination of rice husk particle size of 150 µm with volume fraction of filler material (15%) with Epoxy as the matrix material is beneficial for maximizing the mechanical properties of rice husk particles reinforced polymer composite materials. From ANOVA results, it was found out that the polymer resin has major influence (80.344% & 84.17%) on maximizing tensile and flexural strength. Finally, the results revealed that using rice husk particles as reinforcement for polymer matrix could successfully develop beneficial composites and can be used for the mechanical applications.