Effects of fibre orientation on mechanical properties of hybrid bamboo/glass fibre polymer composites

Abstract

The usage of natural fibre as reinforcement in polymer composites have widely increased because of its enhanced properties. The usage of plant fibre cannot alone satisfy all the needs of the composites. Hence, introduction of hybrid plays a vital role in enhancing the mechanical properties of the FRP composites. Fibre orientation contributes significant role in improving the mechanical properties of the FRP composites. In this proposal, hybrid bamboo/glass fibre woven in different orientations such as 0°/90° and ± 45° was used and its effect on mechanical properties were studied. Composites containing hybrid fibres found to possess better mechanical properties, when compared to pure bamboo. In order to justify this, the following mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural, impact and hardness were investigated. SEM analysis shows the bonding between the matrix and reinforcement. All the above test results indicate that the introduction of natural bamboo fibre in glass reduces the overall cost of the composites with no compromise in strength and also attracted several studies covering green technologies.