Mechanical Properties of Hybrid FRP Arrangement of Glass and Kenaf fibres

Abstract

The study discussed the mechanical properties of hybrid arrangement of glass and Kenaf fibre reinforced plastic (FRP). There are two types of hybrid arrangementscomparedwith one controlled arrangement of 100% Kenaf fibre. The glass fibre types used in the study are chopped, woven and 3-dimensional. The FRP was fabricated via hand lay-up method using the two types of matrix namely epoxy 1,2 and polyester resins. Parameters evaluated were fibre hybrid FRP arrangement and fibre orientation for the two types of composite with two different matrix resins. The mechanical properties evaluated on the hybrid FRP arrangement are tensile strength, elastic modulus, elongation at break and water absorption. The mechanical properties of 36 composites samples were conducted by Instrons Machine 3382 according to ASTM D-638-10a. The physical property of nine samples was performed using water absorption according to ASTM D 570-99. These tests were carried out to determine the effect of mechanical behaviour for all hybrid FRP arrangements. It was found that hybrid FRP arrangement #1 with layers of fibreglass 3D-woven-chopped-woven-3D give the outstanding properties both in polyester and epoxy matrices. However, adding Kenaf reduce the mechanical properties and increase water absorption.