Production and Testing of Bamboo Composite for Door of a Three-Wheeled Vehicle

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Introduction
Te use of composite materials in the aerospace, automotive, marine, and civil construction industries has increased dramatically in recent years, replacing traditional materials like steel, aluminum, and other alloys. Tis is because composite materials have incredible qualities including high strength to weight ratios, great fatigue properties, and noncorroding behaviors. Tese benefts promote the widespread use of composite materials, notably in the automotive industry [1]. Humans naturally move from place to place to complete daily tasks within a certain amount of time, and in many nations, like Ethiopia, cars are the primary mode of mobility. Terefore, studying this area to build and deliver well-improved, quick, afordable, and aesthetically pleasing cars is a signifcant idea for the growth of these countries by giving them quick, efcient, and plentiful means of transportation. Intelligent material enhancement and design excellence are essential processes to achieve this goal.
Composites are being examined in the automotive industry to create lighter, safer, and more fuel-efcient vehicles. A composite is made up of a high strength fber (such as carbon or glass) and a matrix substance (such as epoxy polymer) that, when combined, have greater qualities than the constituent parts would have on their own. Choosing the appropriate material during the choosing process is crucial. Te chosen material ought to live up to the engineer's expectations. Te material should be inexpensive and mechanically workable. Te composite materials ofer a wide range of other possible automotive uses besides bumper manufacture, including body panels, steering, brakes, suspension, and other components of the car. Other than body panels, composites are currently only used in a limited number of automotive components, including bumper systems, fuel tanks, drive shafts, instrument panels, cross wheel beams, and intake manifolds [2].
Tis century has seen signifcant developments in green technology in the feld of materials science due to the production of high-performance materials made from natural resources, which is sweeping the globe. A form of renewable resource known as plant fbers has been phased out over thousands of years by both nature and technological advancement. Te main barrier to the adoption of plant fber reinforced composites (PFRCs) is the diversity of their features and traits. Te properties of a PFRC are infuenced by a variety of elements, including the fber type, environmental conditions, processing methods, and fber modifcation. Te general characteristics of plant fbers used in composite materials, such as their source, sort, structure, content, and attributes, determine the fnal result of the material [3].
Construction, fooring, windows, and door panels are just a few of the structural and nonstructural applications where wood polymer composites (WPCs) are crucial. Ramesh et al. published a research on the morphological, mechanical, and structural characteristics of WPCs as well as their processing with additives such wood foor. Tis report also highlights the use of wood-based composites in a number of industries, including automotive, marine, structural, and defense. WPCs are widely used in both automotive and construction components, including as screens and fooring boards. In addition to these, many specialized uses for WPCs have been discovered and tested recently, including decking, cladding, paneling, fence, and furniture, to mention a few [4].
Additionally, by investigating materials for this purpose, their aesthetic look should be improved. Numerous studies have shown that composite materials ofer a lightweight, fatigue-resistant, and easily moldable alternative to metallic materials that is also aesthetically pleasing. Identifcation of the crucial technical challenges that must be overcome is necessary if the advantages of composite materials such as their light weight, durability, good aesthetic value, high specifc energy absorption ability, and ease of forming are to be more widely utilized by the automotive industry [5]. Te roof, foor, dashboard, front and back bumpers, passenger safety cells, and door panels are only a few structural components that have already been made from composite materials in the automotive industry [1]. Various materials, including the composite material, are frequently used to construct the door panel of an automobile. Natural fbers and polymer matrices with complementary qualities can be used to create composite materials, which increase their tensile strength and endurance. Tese materials are appropriate for making vehicle outside components because they are light, robust, and provide adequate thermal and acoustic insulation. Car outer door panels are among the most crucial exterior vehicle components [6].
Both the demand for and use of plant fbers are expanding quickly, as is environmental awareness. Towards sustainable environmental impact evaluations by making plant fbers stronger, EIA has promoted the growth of biomaterials. Life-cycle assessment is a method to look at the efects of products or services, whereas environmental impact assessment assesses the environmental impact of a product or service. Plant fber reinforced composites are of interest to researchers because of worries about the economy and environment. Te forest's timber reserves will diminish and fnally run out as a result of environmental issues caused by natural and renewable resources. Te higher energy consumption during production of biocomposites raises concerns about their environmental friendliness. Tis can be avoided by taking into account both the life-cycle and service-life performance when the material is designed. It lessens environmental dangers associated with manufacturing [7].
Historically, diferent grades of steel and aluminum have been the principal materials utilized to make car bodies. Additionally, the majority of the interior sections of vehicles are made of plastic and other synthetic materials [5]. Te manufacturers adjust the approximate design of their vehicle's structure and add the required structural components that match the predominant design goals in order to meet the requirements of a specifc crashworthiness standard and fuel economy [8]. Te designer can alter structural elements like geometry while also modifying the material's characteristics by altering the orientation and volume of the fbers. Tese characteristics of composite materials foster a favorable environment in the automotive industry because they give the necessary strength while weighing less than steel and aluminum [9].
Te goal of this research is to create a composite material made of natural fbers that may be used for car door panels. According to the literature assessment, bamboo strips were gathered for this project from a three-year-old bamboo plant in Ethiopia's Enjibara area of the Amhara region. Te bamboo strip is mixed with polymer epoxy and E-glass to create the door panel, and a hardener is added to ensure a quick cure. Te Ethiopian Conformity Assessment Enterprise in Addis Ababa and the Belayab Cable Manufacturing Plc Corporation in Adama, Ethiopia, respectively, do the testing on the sample specimens that are prepared at the Addis Ababa University Institute of Technology. A door panel is successfully created using the material and installed on the desired three-wheeler vehicle. Te novelty of this research is how easily a door panel may be produced locally. In order to fnish this investigation, a number of obstacles must be overcome. Te lack of sophisticated workshops and the challenge of locating the essential material types in the needed sizes for making the intended product are few of the challenges.

Production Material and Equipment.
Te materials used in this work are given in Table 1. Te equipment used is given in Table 2.

Fabrication.
A traditional hand layup process is used to prepare the fabrications of the composite sample. Bidirectional (woven form, 90°), unidirectional (0°/90°), and bamboo (0°) fbers are employed as reinforcement, while polyester is used as a matrix.

Bamboo Fiber-Reinforced Composite Preparation
(1) Modifcation of Bamboo Strip. Te samples were made using the manual layup method. Te prepared mold was flled using the hand layup method. As shown in Figure 1(a) waved roll bamboo, 1(b) splitting process, 1(c) splinted bamboo, and 1(d) the fnal prepared bamboo strip, the natural bamboo fber was obtained from a local market with the dimensions of 3-meter length by 2-meter width and 0/90°m eshed and ready to sell for other purposes. Utilizing a single roller, separate the entire mesh into individual pieces to create the frst sample. Tis procedure aids in converting the thickness of the preceding bamboo strips into the required study sample size.
(2) Chemical Treatment of Bamboo Fiber. Te bamboo strips were divided into 60 cm lengths and left to soak for 6 hours at room temperature in a 5% NaOH solution. Water was used to thoroughly clean the treated bamboo strips, and any extra water was dried. 95% water and 5% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) were employed in this study. 7 liters of distilled water and 0.037 litters of NaOH were combined with the sample solution. Te 60-cm-long bamboo strips with stripes were soaked in a chemical solution for six hours. Te chemical solution was removed from the fber after 6 hours of soaking, and the PH value was maintained by rewashing it with tap water. Te fber was then allowed to dry for roughly 6 hours in direct sunlight. Te chemical processing of the bamboo strips is shown in Figure 2. Following alkali treatment, the following reaction occurs: (3) Fiber Orientation. In accordance with the previous study, a mold in 0°and 0/90°woven form will be made, and its weight will be determined using a digital weight metering machine. Te initial fber arrangement depicted in Figures 3  and 4 can be used to prepare the numbers 0°and 90°. Te frst sample below, articulation changed by condition as shown in Figure 3, was created utilizing both orientations on the same layer. Only two diferent fber orientations (a) 0°orientation and (b) 0/90°orientation are used based on the aforementioned research data. Distilled water Lit. 20 7 Fiber glass (E-glass) kg 1 Test machines 2 7 Weighting machine 2 8 Grinding machine 1 9 Welding machine 1 10 Drilling machine 1 Journal of Engineering   release gel or wax was frst applied to the surface of the mold. Polyester resin is hardened with 1 (one) weight percent methyl ethyl ketone peroxide catalyst. Following the placement of bamboo fber in the mold, mixed resin was poured on it, brushed over the fber to disseminate the resin, and then another longitudinal bamboo fber was added to support the weight. Until the desired thickness was reached, this process was repeated. For bamboo fber reinforced composite, specimens with various fber orientations, including 0°, 90°, and 0°/90°, were created as shown in Figure 5.
After curing at a set temperature or at room temperature, the mold was fnally opened, releasing the produced composite product for further processing. Te prepared mold had a fnal dimension of 300 × 400 square millimeters and 3.5 millimeters in thickness.

Tensile Test.
For this research work, the specimen is prepared by cutting with a band saw available in the Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, which is shown in Figure 6, as per the requirement of company's machine capability and precision according to the given dimension.
Tensile tests are conducted at Ethiopian Conformity Assessment Enterprise in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. Te UTM is connected to a computer display, allowing us to visualize the test results and the stress-strain curve in this scenario. According to the load utilized to shatter the specimen, the machine used for the testing has a strength correction factor following direct computer printout data.
For repeatability, a total of three samples were used for each orientation. Te reported test result variation between the three specimens in each orientation is not statistically signifcant. Tree test specimens must be taken from each fber orientation composite plate in order to take an average that will be more accurate.
According to the graph reading of the frst test of the 90°f ber orientation composite in Figure 8 (A 11 , A 12 , and A 13 ), the material with bamboo fber to polyester resin composite has tensile strength. Finally, with a strain of 68.3% elongations, the average tensile strength of the composite with the 90°-specifed fber orientation is 77.2 MPa. Te material with bamboo fber to polyester resin composite has tensile strength, according to the graph reading of the frst test of 90°f ber orientation composite in Figure 8 (A 11 , A 12 , and A 13 ). Finally, with a strain of 68.3% elongations, the average tensile strength of the composite with the 90°-specifed fber orientation is 77.2 MPa.
According to the graph reading of the second test of 0°fber orientation composite in Figure 9 (A 21 , A 22 , and A 23 ), the material with bamboo fber to polyester resin composite has tensile strength. Finally, with a strain of 34.67% elongations, the average tensile strength of the composite with this stated fber orientation is 175.73 MPa. Te strength evaluation is shown in Figure 9. Typically, the comparison is carried out by taking into account corrective factors and averaging those test results for an orientation.
According to the graph reading of the third test of 0/90°f ber orientation composite in Figure 10 (A 31 , A 32 , and A 33 ), the material with bamboo fber to polyester resin composite has a tensile strength. Finally, with a strain of 79.67% elongations, the composite's average tensile strength with the stated fber orientation of 0/90°is 76.67 MPa. Te strength evaluation is illustrated in the fgure below. Typically, the comparison is carried out by taking into account corrective variables and averaging those test results for an orientation.
It can be seen from the tensile strength of bamboo fberreinforced composites that the 0°fber orientation composite has higher tensile strength than both the bidirectional (0/90°) fber orientation composite and the 90°fber orientation composite (Figure 11).
In general, draw the conclusion that the higher tensile strength is observed in the 0°fber orientation of bamboo fber-reinforced composite as the fber orientation varies.

Compression Test.
Te ability of a material to bear loads that tend to diminish its size is known as its compressive strength. Tensile strength is the reverse of compressive strength. Since there may occasionally be a fracture in the structure at this limit, compressive strength is crucial in determining the compressive load limit. Tree diferent fber orientations were used to prepare the compression test specimens. Teir specimens were processed for reproducibility for each fber orientation. Te compression test set up is shown in Figure 12.
Te test load against the deformation correlation graph of the composite material is shown below in Figure 13.
Te load (kN) to material deformation (mm) relationship property is displayed in Figure 14, as shown below.
Te load (kN) to material deformation (mm) relationship property is displayed in Figure 15, as shown below.
Based on the composite's compressive strength and bamboo fber reinforcement, it can be seen that the 0°fber orientation composite has a higher compressive strength than the 90°fber orientation composite and the bidirectional (0/90°) fber orientation composite (Figure 16). Results of compression test are given in Table 3. Te abovementioned compression test result is for pure compression stress, and there is no shear force involvement due to the orientation of the test sample and the machine.

Buckling Test.
Te universal machine with the buckling testing setup is shown in Figure 17 while the machine's upper jaw is just beginning to move downward. Te test specimen is created in accordance with ASTM D790 while taking into account machine specifcations that are available and the advice of the technician.

Journal of Engineering
In general, this apparatus can be used to test a material's tensile, compressive, or buckling properties. Te only ways to distinguish between tests for tensile, compression, and buckling properties are to simply choose on the display screen and insert the necessary parameters.
Bending mechanical properties comparison for diferent fber orientation composite materials is summarized on Figure 18.
Te graph above compares three distinct fber orientations of a hybrid composite made of bamboo and sisal fbers. Te highest fexural strength is found for the 0°fber orientation (188.48 MPa) and the lowest for the 90°fber orientation (92.25 MPa).
Due to the bidirectional fber orientation sample thickness, the specimen can withstand the highest maximum tensile force even though its fexural strength is smaller than the 0°fber orientation. Bidirectional fber orientation shows the highest bending moment, whereas unidirectional fber orientation shows the highest bending stress. Te main assurance was receiving test results for various thicknesses. Hence, 3-4 mm was chosen from among those various thicknesses based on a number of test result acceptances.

Water Absorption Test.
Using equation (2), it was possible to determine how much water the bamboo fbers that were extracted absorbed. Before being submerged in    where M t is the mass of fbers after soaking in water at diferent time intervals, and M o is the mass of fbers before soaking in water. According to the above equation, measured data calculation has been taken from 48 hours results.

Conclusion
Te following conclusions can be drawn from the tensile, compression, and bending analysis properties experiment data studied in this work: (i) According to the experiment's fndings, the mechanical properties of the bamboo fber composite material have improved with diverse fber orientation (ii) 0°-treated bamboo fber reinforced unsaturated polyester resin composite was found to have better tensile strength than 90°and 0/90°based on the fndings of the tensile experimental test (iii) According to the results of the compression experimental test, 90°-treated bamboo fberreinforced unsaturated polyester resin composite has a higher tensile strength than 0°and 0/90°( iv) 0/90°woven-treated bamboo fber-reinforced unsaturated polyester resin composite has superior bending strength than 0°and 90°, according to the fndings of the experimental bending tests (v) Te result of the moisture content test, which measured how much water was absorbed by auto body door panels, was within the acceptable range (vi) Te hand layup technique is determined to be the ideal method for producing the sample composite materials as well as the prototype door due to its simplicity and lack of the need for extra accessories. (vii) Benefts of making a door panel from bamboo fber composite material include lower costs, improved customer satisfaction, reduced fuel consumption, and a signifcant ability to replace imported raw materials (viii) Te bamboo fber composite material could also be used for various applications such as leaf spring, dashboard panel, pillars, interior door covers, and other vehicle component parts.

Data Availability
Data used for the fndings of the study are available on request from the corresponding author.

Conflicts of Interest
Te authors declare that there are no conficts of interest.