7 - Investigation of mechanical testing on hybrid composite materials

Abstract

This chapter describes the implementation of kenaf fiber and jute fiber together with glass fiber to produce hybrid composites. There are many researches have already been conducted to study the characteristics of glass fiber composites, natural fiber composites and hybrid composites. Most of the previous findings have reported on how natural fiber has the potential to replace or reduce the percentage of synthetic fiber in general. This research investigates the mechanical properties of two different hybrid composites to determine the capability of kenaf/jute hybrid composites as compared to glass fiber composites. The materials used in this research are glass fiber E-type, kenaf fiber, and jute fiber that are in the woven state. Three types of composites have been fabricated, which are the pure fiberglass, hybrid glass fiber/kenaf fiber, and hybrid glass fiber/jute fiber. The entire specimen is set into 4.0mm±2% thickness using the traditional hand lay-up method. The fabricated specimen was tested using a universal testing machine to study the mechanical properties of the composite material; this involved the tensile test and the compression test. The tensile strength of glass fiber composite, glass fiber/kenaf hybrid composite, and glass fiber/jute hybrid composite are 124.24, 94.92, and 88.84MPa, respectively, while the compressive strength of glass fiber composite, glass fiber/kenaf hybrid composite, and glass fiber/jute hybrid composite are 56.83, 45.07 and 40.14MPa respectively. The results show that hybrid glass/kenaf fiber presents better properties in both tensile test and compression test as compared to hybrid glass/jute fiber. There is significant reduction in strength when glass fiber is replaced by kenaf or jute which can be improved by natural fiber treatment and changing fabrication methods. The strength of material is one of the major elements in describing the properties of material production for aeronautical application.