Experimental Investigation on Parameter Effects on Fracture Toughness of Hemp Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites

Abstract

Composite materials based on natural fibers are of great interest, often due to their low cost origin. Natural fiber reinforced composites are emerging as a possible substitute to glass fiber reinforced composites. Owing to the advantage of low cost, low density, reduced energy consumption, natural fibers offer an opportunity to developing countries to use their own natural resources for producing composite materials. Although glass and other synthetic fiber-reinforced plastics possess high specific strength, their fields of application are very limited because of the inherent higher cost of production. In this research naturally available hemp fiber is used with Vinyl ester resin to develop natural fiber reinforced bio-composites by hand lay-up method. The applications of these materials require a sustainable approach to creating green products. Environmental friendly green materials are need of the hour. Nowadays natural fibers along with naturally available resins form an interesting alternative for the most widely applied fiber in the composite technology. The work presents a brief over view of the effect of various factors over the mechanical properties of natural fibers. Knowing that natural fibers and the resins are cheap and have a better stiffness and are lighter when compared to other components, this work is intended to test the tensile and fracture toughness properties of hemp fiber composites.