This work investigates the effects of water ageing on the three-point bending behaviour of composites made of castor oil polymer reinforced with short coir fibres treated in a 10% NaOH solution. A Design of Experiment (DoE) is performed to identify the effects of the factors (levels), fibre treatment (untreated and treated), and immersion exposure time (0, 8, and 16 days) on the flexural modulus and strength of the biobased composites. The exposure time significantly affects flexural modulus, while both factors affect flexural strength. Higher exposure times and fibre treatment lead to lower mechanical properties attributed to the easier percolation of water by the excessive lignin removal. Fundings: CAPES MSc scholarship (#88887.488889/2020-00) and CNPq (PQ 309885/2019-1). Also on ResearchGate: http://bit.ly/3QXZPmY.

Cite as: E.G. Assis et al. "A preliminary investigation of fully water-immersed bio-based composites reinforced with short coir fibres". In Proceedings of the 6th Brazilian Conference on Composite Materials (Part of ISSN 2316-1337), Organised and Edited by R.J. da Silva & T.H. Panzera, 2022, pp. 54-59. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29327/566492