Effect of stacking sequence on the performance of hybrid natural/synthetic fiber reinforced polymer composite laminates

Subrata C Das,Debasree Paul,Sotirios A Grammatikos,Md A.B Siddiquee,Styliani Papatzani,Panagiota Koralli,Jahid M.M Islam,Mubarak A Khan,S.M Shauddin,Ruhul A Khan,Nectarios Vidakis,Markos Petousis

doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.114525

Abstract

Here, the effect of stacking sequence on the mechanical and thermomechanical properties of composites using natural fiber (jute), synthetic fiber (glass) and unsaturated polyester resin, is presented. The fabricated composite laminates were neat jute/polyester, neat glass/polyester, and hybrid jute/glass/polyester. It was revealed that neat glass/polyester laminate showed better mechanical performance than the other laminates, and glass fiber hybridization significantly affects the properties of the hybrid laminates. Furthermore, three selected composites were studied using Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) imaging. Lastly, to improve the mechanical properties of the developed composites, 1 kGy dose of γ-irradiation was applied. As a result, the tensile strength, bending strength, tensile modulus, and bending modulus was increased 10.7, 26.7, 21.5, 36.5% for neat jute/polyester composites; 6.2, 10.9, 50.3, 18.0% for neat glass/polyester composites; and 8.9, 11.9, 21.7, 19.9% for hybrid composites, respectively.

Highlights

Nowadays, there is an emerging trend of using natural or renewable resources in composite materials such as natural fibers, bio‐ based polymer matrices, and bio‐based fillers [1,2,3,4,5]
The stacking sequence effects on hybrid composites reinforced by jute and glass fiber reinforcements have been studied by several researchers [14,15,16,17,18,19,20]
Sanjay et al has reported experimental findings on the effects of stacking sequence on the tensile, flexural and hardness properties of hybrid laminates made of jute, kenaf and E‐glass fiber reinforcements, revealing that glass fiber reinforcement layers generally improve the mechanical properties of hybrid laminates

Summary

Introduction

There is an emerging trend of using natural or renewable resources in composite materials such as natural fibers, bio‐ based polymer matrices, and bio‐based fillers [1,2,3,4,5]. The stacking sequence effects on hybrid composites reinforced by jute and glass fiber reinforcements have been studied by several researchers [14,15,16,17,18,19,20]. Sanjay et al has reported experimental findings on the effects of stacking sequence on the tensile, flexural and hardness properties of hybrid laminates made of jute, kenaf and E‐glass fiber reinforcements, revealing that glass fiber reinforcement layers generally improve the mechanical properties of hybrid laminates. They reported that glass/kenaf reinforcement layers as skin and jute reinforcement layers as core, exhibited optimum performance among other hybrid laminates [14]. Ramesh et al studied different hybrid composite laminates made of sisal, jute and glass fiber reinforced

Methods

Results

Conclusion