Effect of Rice Husk Ash on the Tensile Strength of Epoxy Based Bio-composite

Rice husk is a major agricultural waste which has very little practical application for the farmers. It has been used as a fibre with various resins to produce composites. If burnt it produces ashwhich contains 90% Silica which has high abrasive strength and can contribute to mechanical strength of composites. In the present work RHA was obtained by incinerating RH at about 6000C for 6 hours. The ash obtained with this procedure is shiny white in colour and rich in silica. The ash obtained by this process was mixed in various weight proportions with epoxy and powdered rice husk to obtain bio composites. Mechanical tests were conducted to assess the strength of the composite. It was observed that incorporation of RHA as a fibre improved various mechanical properties upto a certain weight proportion where after it started decreasing. SEM tests were conducted to understand the failure mechanism. It can be concluded that RHA can be a suitable fibre for bio composites up to a limited range. In future however better casting techniques can be developed to utilize the abrasive strength of this abundant resource.