Physical, Thermal and Mechanical Characterization of Epoxy/Rafia Vinifera Woven Composite Materials: Application to the Comfort of Boats in Tropical Areas

The mechanical, physical and thermal characterization of a composite made from woven raffia fiber vinifiera molded in epoxy resin intended for shipbuilding shows that the density (0.5 g/cm3 with a relative error of 0.05 g/cm3) of the composite produced is lower than that of wood used in this field. The material has low porosity (9.8%) and is less absorbent (12.61%) than wood. The result of the thermal conductivity test by the hot plane method shows that this composite can contribute to the internal thermal insulation (an example of thermal conductivity is 0.32W/m.K) of floating boats. The mechanical tests of compression (young modulus is 22.86 GPa), resilience (1.238 J/Cm2) and hardness (233.04 BH30-2.5/187.5-15s) show that this composite is much harder and more absorbent than many wood and bio-composite materials used in the construction of pleasure boats. The abrasion test (0.005349) shows that this composite could well resist friction with the beach.