* To study the effect of Nickel coating on the surface morphology and tensile properties of the fibers. * To investigate the influence of fiber coating and fiber volume fraction on the tensile properties of the coated fiber reinforced polymer composites. * To develop an adaptive fuzzy model for predicting the tensile behavior of the composites of different responses.

1. Guided By
Dr.S.Jayabal
Assistant Professor (Sr.Gr)
A.C college of Engg. & Tech.,
Karaikudi.
An adaptive fuzzy modelling for static tensile behavior of
electroless nickel coated cellulose fibers reinforced polyester
composites
S.Karthikeyan
Reg No: 1323006
M.E –Computer Aided Design
A.C College of Engg. & Tech.,
Karaikudi.
Presented by

2. Introduction to composite materials
Composite materials are materials made from two or more
constituent materials with significantly
different physical or chemical properties, that when
combined, produce a material with characteristics different
from the individual components.
The individual components remain separate and distinct
within the finished structure.
The new material may be preferred for many reasons:
common examples include materials which are stronger,
lighter or less expensive when compared to traditional
materials.

3. Objective
To study the effect of Nickel coating on the surface
morphology and tensile properties of the fibers.
To investigate the influence of fiber coating and fiber
volume fraction on the tensile properties of the coated
fiber reinforced polymer composites.
To develop an adaptive fuzzy model for predicting the
tensile behavior of the composites of different responses.

4. Literature review

5. Literature review

6. Literature review

7. Justification
Adhesive interaction in the fiber-matrix interface is
important in all composites used at varying loading
condition.
By the way, the Ni coated coir fiber is expected to increase
the adhesion interaction and strengthen the matrix.
The formation of hardened and rough surface over fiber can
give better bindability to composites.

8. Proposed Methodology
• Selection of materials
• Fiber pretreatment using Acetone
• Fiber coating (Electro less Nickel coating)
• Fabrication of composites
• Testing of the fabricated specimen
• Prediction using Fuzzy logic

9. Materials Selected
Fiber Reinforcement : Ni coated Cellulose fiber
Matrix :Polyester.
Fiber Pretreatment : Acetone (CH3)2CO
Nickel coating : Nickel sulphate.
NiSO4.7H2O
:Sodium hypophosphite.
NaH2PO2H2O
:Sodium acetate.
CH3COONa

10. Electro-less nickel plating
Electroless nickel (EN) plating is a chemical reduction
process which depends upon the catalytic reduction of
nickel ions in an aqueous solution (containing a chemical
reducing agent) and the subsequent deposition of nickel
metal without the use of electrical energy.
Electroless nickel (EN) deposits are typically classified as
functional coatings and historically have found use in
applications that require protection from either corrosion or
wear and in some cases, both.

11. Sl no A Nickel salt (Nicl2.6H2O or NiSO4.7H2O), 30 g/l
1 Sodium hypophosphite (NaH2PO2H2O), 10 g/l
2 Sodium acetate 10 g/l
Ni coated Coir FiberNi-P Bath Set-up
Nickel solution for electroless plating(30%)

12. Experimental plan
Surface Treatment (Availability : ACCET,Karaikudi)
i. Cleaning in Distilled Water
Fibers soaked in distilled water removes the dust and
impurities on its outer surface.
ii. Acetone treatment
Ultimate objective of this treatment is to remove outer
most waxy layer of the cellulose fiber.
iii. Electro less Ni coating.
NiCl2 + NaH2PO2 + H2O  Ni + NaH2PO3+ 2HCL.
NaH2PO2 + H2O  NaH2PO3 + H2.
Heat-treated electroless nickel coated cellulose fiber possesses
good wear resistance due to its high hardness and low
friction coefficient which will enhance better adhesion
between fiber and matrix.

13. Effects of Nickel coating on coir fiber
Raw coir fiber Nickel coated coir fiber

14. Fabrication of composites
• The fabrication of composite plates with coated coir fibers
has been made using compression moulding machine.
(Availability : ACCET,Karaikudi)
• The pressure and temperature of 1-1.5 Pascal and 65 degree will
be maintained during fabrication process about 20 minutes.
SI
NO
NICKEL
CONCENTRATION(%)
FIBER
LOADING(%)
1 10 10
2 20 15
3 30 20
4 40 25
5 50 30
Factorial levels

15. Testing of composites
The tensile property of the composites was tested as per ASTM
standards and the influence of fiber coating on the tensile properties of
the composites has been studied.
Specimens for mechanical testing were cut from the prepared composite
sheets and finished to the accurate size using emery paper. Tensile test
was conducted using Universal Testing Machine as per ASTM-D 3039-
05 standard(165x25x3mm).The tensile strength of specimen can be
calculated by using the formulae.
Tensile strength(P)=F/b×d (KN/m2
).
o Where
o F=ultimate load in KN
o b=breadth of the sample
o d=thickness of the sample.

16. Fractured tensile tested specimen

17. Influence of nickel coating and fiber loading on
Tensile strength (MPa)

18. Tensile Strength of fabricated specimens
Run Nickel Concentration (%) Fiber Loading (%) Experimental Value
1 10 10 29.6
2 10 15 32.5
3 10 20 34.2
4 10 25 32.8
5 10 30 28.5
6 20 10 32.4
7 20 15 35.9
8 20 20 36.4
9 20 25 34.2
10 20 30 31.8
11 30 10 37.1
12 30 15 38.8
13 30 20 40.5

19. Tensile Strength of fabricated specimens
Run Nickel Concentration (%) Fiber Loading (%) Experimental Value
14 30 25 37.2
15 30 30 35.8
16 40 10 36.4
17 40 15 37.7
18 40 20 36.6
19 40 25 35.8
20 40 30 32.7
21 50 10 33.6
22 50 15 34.4
23 50 20 37.8
24 50 25 32.5
25 50 30 30.2

20. Prediction using Fuzzy logic
It is based on mathematical theory combining multi-
valued logic, probability theory can be used to tackle
complex problem.
It is based on fuzzy set theory and linguistic statements
which are expressed mathematically. Fuzzy systems
base their decisions on inputs and outputs in the form
of linguistic variables.
Fuzzy logic algorithm is used to predict the responses
for various intermediate inputs using Matlab software.

21. Fuzzy Logic algorithm
Fuzzification
Scales and maps input variables to fuzzy sets
Inference Mechanism
FIS Editor
Membership Function Editor .
Rule Editor
Rule Viewer
Surface Viewer
Defuzzification
Convert fuzzy output values to control signals

22. Fuzzification
SI
NO
LEVEL NICKEL
CONCENT
RATION
FIBER LOADING TENSILE
STRENGTH
(MPa)
1 Very Low up to 10 up to 10 Up to 30
2 Low 10 to 20 10 to 15 30 to 32.5
3
Medium
20 to 30 15to 20 32.5 to 35
4 High 30 to 40 20to 25 35 to 37.5
5 Very High above 40 Up to 30 Up to 40 and above
• The input and output variables are fuzzified and
represented by means of membership function. The output
variables are grouped together for five levels each and 25
fuzzy rules were formulated.

23. SI
N0
NICKEL CONCENTRATION
(%)
FIBER LOADING
(%)
TENSILE STRENGTH
MPa
1 VERY LOW VERY LOW VERY LOW
2 VERY LOW LOW LOW
3 VERY LOW MEDIUM MEDIUM
4 VERY LOW HIGH LOW
5 VERY LOW VERY HIGH VERY LOW
6 LOW VERY LOW LOW
7 LOW LOW HIGH
8 LOW MEDIUM HIGH
9 LOW HIGH MEDIUM
10 LOW VERY HIGH LOW
11 MEDIUM VERY LOW HIGH
12 MEDIUM LOW VERY HIGH
13 MEDIUM MEDIUM VERY HIGH
Fuzzy rules

24. SI
N0
NICKEL CONCENTRATION FIBER LOADING TENSILE
STRENGTH
MPa
14 MEDIUM HIGH HIGH
15 MEDIUM VERY HIGH HIGH
16 HIGH VERY LOW HIGH
17 HIGH LOW VERY HIGH
18 HIGH MEDIUM HIGH
19 HIGH HIGH HIGH
20 HIGH VERY HIGH MEDIUM
21 VERY HIGH VERY LOW MEDIUM
22 VERY HIGH LOW MEDIUM
23 VERY HIGH MEDIUM VERY HIGH
24 VERY HIGH HIGH MEDIUM
25 VERY HIGH VERY HIGH LOW
Fuzzy rules

25. FIS editor

26. Membership Function Editor

27. Rule Editor
Fuzzy rules

28. Rule viewer

29. 3D Surface viewer

30. Validation of Fuzzy Model
Ru
n
Nickel
Concentration (%)
Fiber
Loading(%)
Experimental
Value Predicted Value
Percentage
of error
1 15 17.5 33.1 33.6 1.51
2 15 22.5 34.4 33.7 2.03
3 15 27.5 32.3 33.1 2.47
4 30 17.5 36.11 35.4 1.96
5 30 22.5 38.5 37 3.89
6 30 27.5 36.4 36.5 0.27
7 45 17.5 33.3 33.8 1.50
8 45 22.5 34.9 33.9 2.86
9 45 27.5 32.3 31.9 1.23
Average Percentage
error 1.96
% of error= (Experimental value-Predicted value) × 100 /
Experimental value

31. Experimental Vs Predicted values
• The above graph shows the variation in tensile
strength values obtained from experimental
investigation and fuzzy logic prediction.

32. Conclusion
1. This work shows that successful fabrication
of a Electro less nickel coated coir fiber
reinforced polyester composites by varying the
percentage of nickel concentration and fiber
loading is possible by using Compression
Molding Machine.
2. It has been noticed that the tensile
properties of the composites are also greatly
influenced by the concentration of nickel
percentage and fiber loading.

33. Conclusion
3. From this study it has been concluded that the
poor interfacial bonding is responsible for low tensile
properties.
4. The tested values were compared with predicted
values from Fuzzy logic algorithm and percentage of
error has been calculated for validation. Fuzzy logic
predicted the output characteristics accurately and the
validation reported that the error percentage is below
4 % for all the models.

34. References
[1].A.Urena, M.D.Escalera, M.Sanchez, Electroless nickel coated short carbon
fibres in aluminium matrix composites 24 (2001) 497–505
[2]. S.R. Shukla*, Roshan S. Pai, Amit D. Shendarkar, Adsorption of Ni(II),
Zn(II) and Fe(II) on modified coir fibres 47 (2006) 141–147
[3]. S. Heimbs & P. Middendorf & S. Kilchert ,Experimental and Numerical
Analysis of Composite Folded Sandwich Core Structures Under Compression.
[4]. Prasanta Sahoo,Suman Kalyan Das Tribology of electroless nickel
coatings – A review. 35(2012) 567–574.
[5]. T. Rajasekaran K. Palanikumar B. K. Vinayagam Application of
fuzzy logic for modeling surface roughness in turning CFRP
composites

35. References
[6].Susheel Kalia,* B.S. Kaith,Inderjeet Kaur , Pretreatments of Natural
Fibers and their Application as Reinforcing Material in Polymer Composites
—A Review 49 (2009) 7.
[7]. R.Vinayagamoorthyand N. Rajeswari, Analysis of cutting forces during
milling of natural fibered Composites using fuzzy logic .
[8]. Sham-Tsong Shiuea, Chia-Hao Yangb, Rong-Shian Chub, Tsong-Jen
Yang, Effect of the coating thickness and roughness on the mechanical
strength and thermally induced stress voids in nickel-coated optical fibers
prepared by electroless plating method.55 (1995) 583-594.
[9]. Shinn-Shyong Tzeng, , Fa-Yen Chang, Electrical resistivity of electroless
nickel coated carbon fibers.38 (2007)1811–1820.