Experimentation and Prediction Analysis on the Mechanical Performance of Fish Scale and Coconut Shell Powder-Based Composites

In India, the utilization of natural fibers for developing new composites with desirable properties has been increasing from the last decade. Bio-waste such as fish scale and coconut shell (CS) powder was utilized to develop natural fiber-based composites in the present work. Three composite specimens, i.e., 30 wt% fish scale (FS), 30 wt% CS powder (CS), and 5 wt% fish scale (FS)+ 5 wt% CS powder specimen, were developed. The tensile, flexural, and impact strength testing was carried out on each specimen. A comparative study was drawn between the test results of the specimen. The experimental results showed that the CS powder-based composites yield improved mechanical properties compared to the fish scale-based composites. Furthermore, a quadratic and cubic mathematical model was developed on the experimental results of tensile and flexural testing for each specimen. The regression results show that the cubic regression model yields better prediction results than the quadratic regression model for all the composite specimens. The experimental results showed that the largely available fish scale and CS powder could be used to produce biowaste-based value-added material that provides a sustainable and eco-friendly approach.