Manufacture of student chair in composite material reinforced with fique fiber

The use of natural fibers as reinforcement for composite materials is on the rise due to the need to reduce environmental damage and manufacture sustainable products. One of the fibers used for this purpose is fique fiber. This article describes the manufacture of a student chair with fique fiber-reinforced composite material. To choose the amount of reinforcement to be used in the elaboration of the chair, the mechanical characterization of several composites with different percentages of the fiber was carried out, where it was found that both the flexural and tensile properties increased with a higher insertion of fique. The selected material was analyzed morphologically with optical microscopy, finding that there was good adhesion between the fiber and the matrix. A simulation with finite elements showed that the chair would resist a load of 100 kg. The student chair was manufactured using the Hand Lay Up technique with material composed of fique fiber and polyester resin.