Design and investigation of impact and micro hardness properties of the developed glass-jute-CGS fibre reinforced hybrid epoxy polymer composites

Abstract

In this work, three sets of hybrid laminates were fabricated from different weight percentages of jute-glass fiber-treated CGS fibers using a hand lay-up process at room temperature. The different laminate sequences are (G-CGS-J-CGS-G), (G-J-CGS-J-G), and (G-CGS-CGS-CGS-G). The testing specimens were cut using a water jet cutting machine. The alkali-treated CGS composites are well embedded in the matrix and showed better performance. The maximum impact strength was observed in (G-J-CGS-J-G) lay-up laminate for 20 wt. % of CGS fiber. Further inclusion of CGS fiber (25 wt. %) decreased the impact strength of laminate (FRP6 specimen). This behaviour is due to the insertion of highly toughened glass fiber at the surface of the laminate can carry the applied load first and evenly dissipate it to the bottom plies, resulting in higher impact resistance. Similarly, (G-J-CGS-J-G) lay-up laminate with 20 wt. % of CGS fiber reveals better hardness value due to the inclusion of more volume of glass and jute fibers.