Effect of water absorption and stacking sequences on the properties of hybrid sisal/glass fibre reinforced polyester composite

Abstract

In this work, the effect of water absorption and stacking sequences on the mechanical properties (i.e. impact, tensile and flexural) of hybrid sisal/glass polyester composites has been studied. Each composite laminate is prepared by the hand lay-up technique followed by static compression using about 20 wt% of fibre content. Different stacking sequences are obtained by changing the position and number of glass layers keeping a total of eight plies in each composite. Water absorption behaviour is investigated by soaking the composite specimens in the distilled water until saturation and its characteristics such as sorption, diffusion and permeability coefficient are measured. The obtained results suggested that the mechanical and water resistance properties of sisal composites are considerably enhanced by the incorporation of glass fibre. There is 23%, 29% and 46% improvement in tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength respectively in hybrid composites than that of sisal composite. However, the effect of water absorption showed a significant reduction in the mechanical performance of all the composites. Morphological analysis by scanning electron microscope has been also performed to support the statement as weakening of fibre–matrix interfacial bonding by water absorption.