Abstract
Automobile attenuator component is a part of the frontal vehicle assembly which is used to absorb energy during the crash or accidental impact. Impact attenuator is considered as a capable protective device that is fixed right behind the bumper component of the car or vehicle. The materials used for the attenuator component are generally made of aluminium, steel and metal alloys. In the present days, due to hazardous environmental pollutions and carbon emission effects, synthetic and conventional materials are being replaced with natural fibres such as jute, sisal, kenaf etc. Natural fibres are widely used in polymer composites for automotive applications because of their lightweight, higher stiffness, and much stronger than bulk existing materials, and also quite good energy absorption characteristics comparable with metallic materials. This paper highlights the potential of natural fibre along with synthetic fibre reinforced polymer composites used in the automotive applications for crash energy absorption. A new technique such as vacuum infusion method was used to prepare the hybrid composites samples; pure polyester (control), Kenaf/Polyester Composite (KPC), Kenaf/Glass Fibre Polyester Composite (KGPC) and Kenaf/Glass Polyester Hybrid Composite with 6% NaOH treatment (KGPC-t) then followed by an experimental investigation on the effect of kenaf fibre on impact strength and energy absorption characteristics of kenaf/glass fibre/polyester hybrid composite material. Charpy impact strength kenaf/glass/polyester hybrid composite with NaOH treatment was increased by 3.88% than kenaf/glass/polyester hybrid composite without any treatment and 9.25% than kenaf/polyester composites without any treatment. In this study, SEM showed a visual graphical image of the fractured samples at 150X and 750X magnification has minimal pull-out and strong interfacial bonding between the fibres and the matrix.
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