Effect of fibre loading on tensile strength of kenaf/glass fibre epoxy hybrid composite for insulator application

Abstract

This paper discussed the tensile behaviour of epoxy reinforced with kenaf and glass fibre. The non-woven kenaf fibre mat and glass fibre mat were reinforced with epoxy matrix with different stacking sequence viz. neat Epoxy (E), Kenaf/Epoxy(K/E), Kenaf/Glass/Kenaf/Epoxy (K/G/K/E), Glass/Kenaf/Glass/Epoxy (G/K/G/E), Kenaf/Glass/Kenaf/Glass/Epoxy (K/G/K/G/E) and Glass/Epoxy(G/E). The laminate composite samples were prepared using vacuum infusion technique. Tensile strength and modulus evaluation of fibre mat reinforced polymer composite are key study in any structural application, thus the tensile properties of Kenaf/Glass fibre hybrid epoxy composites were characterized followed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) studies on the fractured surface of the composites. The results show that G/K/G/E composite has the highest tensile strength of 49.0 MPa compared to K/G/K/E composite and pure epoxy. The modulus of G/K/G/E composite was 165 MPa and K/G/K/E composite was 122 MPa. The percentage strain of G/K/G/E composite is recorded at 6.6%, whereas K/G/K/E was only 6.2%. The SEM studies show that the fracture surface has a uniform fibre distribution. Scanning electron microscopy fractography showed fibre cracking, debonding and fibre pulled-out as the main fracture mode of composites and G/K/G/E composite exhibited better interfacial bonding between the matrix and reinforcement compared to other compositions.