Abstract
In today’s world, global warming has become a concern. To overcome this, we need to reduce the carbon footprints caused by the production of materials. Much of the time, this is equivalent to the same amount of CO2 emissions per tonne of production. This is a serious concern and needs to be overcome by identifying alternative materials to have as minimal a carbon footprint as possible. In this context, hemp fiber is by far the best natural fiber when compared to its peers. As per the survey conducted by the Nova institute, hemp has CO2 emissions of only 360 Kg/tonne, whereas jute has CO2 emissions of 550 Kg/tonne, kenaf 420 Kg/tonne, and flax 350 Kg/tonne. This paper presents an experimental study of the fracture toughness of hemp-reinforced hybrid composites (HRHC). The effect of the parameters on the fracture toughness behavior of HRHC is studied using the Taguchi technique. It uses different filler combinations with hemp fiber and epoxy. Hemp fiber is used as the reinforcement, epoxy resin is used as a matrix, and banana fiber, coconut shell powder, and sawdust are used as fillers. The experimental plan is prepared using an orthogonal array and analyzed using Minitab software. The obtained results were analyzed using ANOVA and main effects plots. It was observed that the fracture toughness increases with a decrease in thickness. The fracture toughness is affected by the fiber content in the range of 25%–35% and is also affected by the filler materials.
Highlights
Natural fiber composites have created a lot of interest in place of synthetic fibers because of their low density, vast availability, low cost, and biodegradability
known as the stress intensity factor (KIC) is depicted as the critical value of the stress intensity factor at a crack tip given to produce a catastrophic failure under simple uniaxial loading
Natural fiber composites were prepared using hemp fiber and three different fillers, namely, banana fiber, coconut shell powder, and sawdust, with thicknesses of 8, 9, and mm, at 60%, 65%, and 70% of resin contents. These composites were subjected to tensile and fracture toughness tests according to ASTM standards
Summary
Natural fiber composites have created a lot of interest in place of synthetic fibers because of their low density, vast availability, low cost, and biodegradability. Numerous studies have been carried out on the mechanical properties of natural fibers, which are combined with different thermoplastics such as PLA and PHA and thermosets such as phenol-formaldehyde, epoxy, and polyester. These studies have revealed that the bonding between the matrix and the fiber plays a prominent role in the overall mechanical properties of the resulting biocomposite, as the transfer of stress between the fiber and the matrix determines the efficiency of the reinforcement. Composites reinforced with natural fibers can be considered as better options for structural members if they show enormous strength when subjected to fracture loading. The interface bonding between the matrix and fiber parts in the biocomposite lead to it having good fracture toughness [15,16]
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