Experimental investigation of mechanical behavior of Jute-Flax based glass fiber reinforced composite

• Published in: Fibers and polymers 2014-06, Vol.15 (6), p.1251-1262
• Main Authors: Ramnath, B. Vijaya, Elanchezhian, C., Nirmal, P. V., Kumar, G. Prem, Kumar, V. Santhosh, Karthick, S., Rajesh, S., Suresh, K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Economics; Fibers; Flax; Hybrid composites; Jute; Laminates; Mechanical properties; Polymer Sciences; Scanning electron microscopy
• ISSN: 1229-9197; 1875-0052
• DOI: 10.1007/s12221-014-1251-3

Present technological development and innovation needs a better class of material that meets all the practical applications along with its environmental friendly nature and economical value. Hybrid natural fiber composites, a sector of natural composites meets these requirements. This paper deals with fabrication, mechanical characterization of a hybrid (Jute+Flax+GFRP) composite and also the comparison of it with the (Jute+GFRP) based composite. These composites are fabricated using hand lay-up technique. The arrangement of hybrid composite is such that a layer of vertically laid flax fiber is flanked between layers of horizontally laid jute fiber. Epoxy resin alongside with HY951 hardener is used as the binding agent throughout the layer. Glass fiber laminates are used on both sides for improving the surface finish and surface hardness. The volumetric fraction is such that one third of total volume is occupied by Jute and Flax fibers. Test results shows that the hybrid natural composite has excellent properties under tensile, flexural loading. At last failure morphology analysis is done using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and the internal structure of the broken specimen is discussed.