investigating the behavior of olive pomace and its impact on energy absorption and toughness of glass fiber-reinforced polymer composites

This study aims to investigate the effect of incorporating olive pomace (op) as a natural filler into s-glass fiber-reinforced epoxy composites to enhance their mechanical performance, particularly toughness and energy absorption. using a hand lay-up method, composite laminates were fabricated with six different op weight fractions (0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, and 15 wt.%). tensile and flexural tests were conducted according to astm standards, and the stress-strain curves were analyzed to calculate the modulus of toughness. scanning electron microscopy (sem) was used to assess the microstructure and interfacial bonding. results showed that adding 5 wt.% op significantly improved the composite’s maximum tensile strength (from 332 mpa to 633 mpa), elongation (from 0.0151 mm to 0.0239 mm), and toughness modulus (from 2.50 mpa to 7.56 mpa). however, further increases in op content led to reduced performance due to poor interfacial bonding. the study concludes that 5 wt.% op provides an optimal balance between strength, flexibility, and toughness, demonstrating the potential of agricultural waste as an eco-friendly and cost-effective reinforcement in polymer composites.