335-338Rice straw fibres have been extracted and
incorporated in polyester resin matrix to prepare rice straw rein forced polyester
composites and the flexural properties of resultant composites studied. The
composites with a mean flexural strength of 66.3 Mpa, which is greater than
that of plain polyester (55.08 MPa), can be formulated with an optimum fibre volume
of about 40%. The flexural modulus or composite is found to be 2630 MPa which
is about 1.5 times greater than that of plain polyester. The specific flexural
modulus is nearly 2 times greater than that of polyester resin. Straw-based composites
are suitable as core material for structural board products