Investigation of the Mechanical and Liquid Absorption Properties of a Rice Straw-Based Composite for Ayurvedic Treatment Tables
Authors
Abhishek Madival
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, India; [email protected]
Deepak Doreswamy
Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, India
Shripathi Handady
Division of Ayurveda, Center for Integrative Medicine and Research, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, India; [email protected] (S.A.H.); [email protected] (K.R.H.)
Krishna Hebbar
Division of Ayurveda, Center for Integrative Medicine and Research, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, India; [email protected] (S.A.H.); [email protected] (K.R.H.)
Shobha Lakshminarayana
Department of Microbiology, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, India; [email protected]
Managing rice crop stubble is one of the major challenges witnessed in the agricultural sector. This work attempts to investigate the physical, mechanical, and liquid absorption properties of rice straw (RS)-reinforced polymer composite for assessing its suitability to use as an ayurvedic treatment table. This material is expected to be an alternative for wooden-based ayurvedic treatment tables. The results showed that the addition of rice straw particles (RSp) up to 60% volume in epoxy reduced the density of the composite material by 46.20% and the hardness by 15.69%. The maximum tensile and flexural strength of the RSp composite was 17.53 MPa and 43.23 MPa, respectively. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed deposits of silica in the form of phytoliths in various size and shapes on the outer surface of RS. The study also revealed that the water absorption rate (WA) was less than 7.8% for the test samples with 45% volume of RSp. Interestingly the test samples showed greater resistance to the absorption of Kottakal Dhanvantaram Thailam (<2%). In addition, the developed samples showed resistance towards bacterial and fungal growth under the exposure of treatment oils and water.
Keywords: natural composite, rice straw, ayurvedic treatment table, microbial study, tensile strength
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