Abstract
The present investigation deals with mechanical characterization of natural fiber composite materials as alternative roofing for rural houses. In this study, It has been used both banana and Ensete (Ensete ventricosume) fibers for manufacturing the composite material. Tensile test, flexural test and compressive test were performed on the test samples made by various parameters i.e. thickness 4, 6, and 8mm with various fiber orientations using blend of two different matrixes. It was observed that the results obtained were fairly acceptable and closely equivalent to the existing roof material. The present study also investigated the effect of fiber orientation on mechanical properties of the composite material and seen that the mechanical properties were enhanced with developed material which serves as the best alternative for the existing house roofing material.