Experimental Investigation on Shear and Hardness of Abaca based Hybrid Composites

Abstract

Present technology development in the area of materials replaces the conventional materials used in automobile and aerospace sector by composite materials due their less weight and bio degradability. This paper aims to fabricate and investigate the mechanical properties of abaca-raffia hybrid composite fabricated by hand layup process. Since, abaca fiber has more strength than other fibers like kenaf, banana and sisal, the composite with this fiber can be suitable replacement material for automotive applications.The properties like double shear and hardnessare evaluated andthe result shows that the double shear properties and hardness of the hybrid composites [GFRP+Abaca+Raffia] is higher than other two combinations. The internal microstructure of the hybrid composites were analysed using Scanning electron microscope (SEM).