Biodegradable Composites : Materials, Manufacturing and Engineering

Mankind has realized that unless environment is protected and steps are taken to protect it, he himself will be threatened by the pollution by various sources.

The term biocomposite refers to a material which is formed by a matrix and a reinforcement of natural fiber. Recently, there has been a rapid growth in research and innovation in the biodegradable and natural composite area.

Over the past decade, several studies have been done to look at the possibilities of using natural materials, such as plant or animal-based fibers, to mix with different types of soft materials to form a new class of biocomposites.

Each chapter of Biodegradable Composites: Materials, Manufacturing and Engineering, which was edited by J. Paulo Davim and Kaushik Kumar, were provided by researchers and academicians working in the field and have gained considerable success in the field. This book provides an insight for all researchers, academicians, post graduate or senior undergraduate students working in the area of biodegradable composites.

Kaushik Kumar, B.Tech (Mechanical Engineering, REC (Now NIT), Warangal), MBA (Marketing, IGNOU) and Ph.D. (Engineering, Jadavpur University), is presently an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, India. He has 17 years of teaching and research and more than 11 years of industrial experience in a manufacturing unit of global repute. His areas of teaching and research interest are quality management systems, optimization, nonconventional machining, CAD/CAM, rapid prototyping, and composites. He has 9 patents, 23 book, 12 edited books, 38 book chapters, 131 international journal publications, and 18 international and 8 national conference publications to his credit. He is on the editorial board and review panel of 7 international and 1 national journals of repute. He has been felicitated with many awards and honors

J. Paulo Davim is a professor at the University of Aveiro in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He received his Masters and PhD in Mechanical Engineering (1997) from the University of Porto and his Doctor of Science (2013) from the London Metropolitan University. Davims primary areas of interested are sustainable manufacturing, industrial engineering, engineering education, and more. Davim has over 200 publications and over 100 books he either authored or co-authored, such as Engineering Creative Design in Robotics and Mechatronics (2013) and Sustainable Manufacturing (2010).