Abstract
Composite materials have now attracted wide acceptance in product development and
manufacture especially in automotive and aerospace applications where weight reduction and low
fuel consumption are critical product performance metrics. In most applications, glass and carbon
fibre composites are used. However, natural fibre composites also offer attractive properties. They
are competitive especially in terms of price and density when compared to glass and carbon fibre
composites while providing similar mechanical properties. Commonly available natural fibres
include coir and sisal. Resin transfer moulding (RTM) process is also an established technique for
manufacturing composites as it offers good surface finish and dimensional control. The aim of this
paper is to investigate the effect of resin transfer rate on the performance of the product. Coir fibre
/ epoxy resin composites are prepared using RTM for differing resin transfer rates and fibre
fraction for treated and untreated fibres. The results obtained indicate a slight reduction in
performance with reduction in resin transfer rate. However, stiffness remained unaffected.
Improvement in stiffness and strength with increasing volume fraction was reported which was in
agreement with literature. However, the data exhibited an optimum fibre volume fraction of 30%
beyond which performance deteriorated. This investigation indicates that further work is required
to optimise the production of natural fibre composites using RTM.