Examination of Fiber Reinforced Composite Materials

Abstract

In recent years, various new and practical products have emerged thanks to rapidly developing science and technology to meet human needs and expectations. A variety of these products are new materials known as composites. The use of composites is also increasing, from the aircraft industry to the automobile industry, to other areas such as sports equipment, infrastructures. The goal of this research is to present a hybrid composite material that can be retainable and does not harm the environment that can be used in the automobile industry. This goal has been tried to be achieved by using natural fiber (flax fabric) reinforced glass fibers in different weights (86 gr/m² and 100 gr/m²). The vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) system was used to fabricate the composite samples. Composite products produced during the study were tested with regard to mechanical (tensile strength, bending strength), hardness, and morphological (scanning electron microscopy). The results indicate that the tensile strength value of hybrid composites is 2.5 times and 1.7 times higher than that of homogeneous composites and flexural test results also 78% and 23% enhancement compared to single fiber composites. According to the hardness test measurement of hybrid composites, it was found that the hardness value changed with an increase of 14% and 33% compared to the homogeneous composite. Scanning Electron microscopy (SEM) analysis images also coincide with mechanical analysis results. The hybrid composites produced in the study have become a favorable option in diverse areas of use in the automotive industry, considering human health and environmental factors.

Keywords

• Composites
• Natural fiber
• Glass fiber
• Flax fiber
• Mechanical properties

References

1. [1] Hasan, K. M. F., Islam, M., Azad, S. A., Iqbal, M. I., Wu, J. H., “Dynamic Mechanical Behavior and Analysis of the Jute-Glass Fiber Reinforced Polyester Hybrid Composites”, American Journal of Applied Physics, 1: 1–12 , (2016).
2. [2] Aldosari, S. M., Khashaba, U. A., Hamed, M. A., Hedia, H. S., “Design, Manufacture and analysis of composite epoxy material with embedded MWCNT fibers”, Materials Testing, 56: 1039–1041, (2014).
3. [3] Sezgin, H., Berkalp, O. B., “Analysis of the effects of fabric reinforcement parameters on the mechanical properties of textile-based hybrid composites by full factorial experimental design method”, Journal of Industrial Textiles, 48: 580–598, (2018).
4. [4] Agarwal, G., Patnaik, A., Sharma, R. K., Agarwal, J., “Effect of stacking sequence on physical, mechanical and tribological properties of glass-carbon hybrid composites”, Friction, 2: 354–364, (2014).
5. [5] Mehar, A., Ahmed, G. M. S., Kumar, G. P., Rahman, M. A., Qayum, M. A., “Experimental Investigation and FE Analysis of CFRP Composites”, Materials Today Proceedings, 2: 2831–2839, (2015).
6. [6] Balasubramanian, M., “Composite Materials and Processing”, 1 st edition, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 4-26, (2013).
7. [7] Gibson, R. F., “Principles of Composite Material Mechanics”, 4 th edition, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1-13, (2016).
8. [8] Shahzad, A., “Impact and Fatigue Properties of Natural Fibre Composites”, Phd.Thesis, University of Wales, Swansea, 9-13, (2009).

9. [9] Borah, N. K., Agrawal, B. K., “Investigation of Mechanical Properties of Hybrid Glass-Carbon Composites”, International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology, 8: 5796–5805, (2019).
10. [10] Mishra, V., Biswas, S., “Physical and mechanical properties of bi-directional jute fiber epoxy composites”, Procedia Engineering, 51: 561–566, (2013).
11. [11] Kumar, P., Tiwari, M., Makhatha, M. E., Dey, A., Verma, B. B., “Effect of Rate of Loading on Jute Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Composite”, Transactions Indian Institute of Metals, 73: 1573–1577, (2020).
12. [12] Gujjala, R., Ojha, S., Acharya, S. K., Pal, S. K., “Mechanical properties of woven jute-glass hybrid-reinforced epoxy composite”, Journal of Composite Materials, 48: 3445–3455, (2014).
13. [13] Ramesh, M., “Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) fibre reinforced polymer composite materials: A review on preparation, properties and prospects”, Progress in Material Science, 102: 109–166, (2019).
14. [14] Yan, L., Chouw, N., Jayaraman, K., “Flax fibre and its composites- A review”, Composites Part B Engineering, 56: 296–317, (2014).
15. [15] Sezgin, H., Yalçın Eniş, İ., Küçükali Öztürk, M., Gök Sadıkoğlu, T., “Utilizing Recycled High Density Polyethylene Caps of Polyethylene Terephthalate Bottles in Composite Plates”, International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Pure Science, 2: 104–110, (2019).
16. [16] Mallick, P. K., “Fibre-reinforced composites materials, manufacturing and design”, 3rd edition, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 41-45, (2007).
17. [17] Cain, J. J., “Long term durability of glass reinforced composites”, Phd.Thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia, 54-111, (2008).
18. [18] Bourchak, M., Khan, A., Juhany, K. A., “Effect of preheating and post-curing time on the mechanical properties of epoxy resin”, Advanced Composites Letters, 22: 95–99, (2013).
19. [19] Irez, A. B., Bayraktar, E., Miskioglu, I., “Fracture toughness analysis of epoxy-recycled rubber-based composite reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets for structural applications in automotive and aeronautics”, Polymers (Basel), 12(2): 448, (2020).
20. [20] Kumar, D. S., Shukla, M. J., Mahato, K. K., Rathore, D. K., Prusty, R. K., Ray, B. C., “Effect of post-curing on thermal and mechanical behavior of GFRP composites”, IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering, 75(1): 012012, (2015).
21. [21] Almeida-Chetti, V. A., Macchi, R. L., Iglesias, M. E., “Effect of post-curing treatment on mechanical properties of composite resins”, Acta Odontologica Latinoamericana, 27: 72–76, (2014).
22. [22] Aruniit, A., Kers, J., Krumme, A., Poltimäe, T., Tall, K., “Preliminary study of the influence of post curing parameters to the particle reinforced composite’s mechanical and physical properties”, Medziagotyra, 18: 256–261, (2012).
23. [23] Kar, K. K., “Composite Materials”, 1 st edition, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg, 21-23, (2017).
24. [24] Ramnath, B. V., Elanchezhian, C., Nirmal, P. V., Kumar, G. P., Kumar, V. S., Karthick, S., Rajesh, S., Suresh, K., “Experimental investigation of mechanical behavior of Jute-Flax based glass fiber reinforced composite”, Fibers and Polymers, 15: 1251–1262, (2014).
25. [25] Manteghi, S., Mahboob, Z., Fawaz, Z., Bougherara, H., “Investigation of the mechanical properties and failure modes of hybrid natural fiber composites for potential bone fracture fixation plates”, Journal of Mechanical Behaviour Biomedical Materials, 65: 306–316, (2017).
26. [26] Bagheri, Z. S., El Sawi, I., Schemitsch, E. H., Zdero, R., Bougherara, H., “Biomechanical properties of an advanced new carbon/flax/epoxy composite material for bone plate applications”, Journal of Mechanical Behaviour of Biomedical Materials, 20: 398–406, (2013).
27. [27] Graupner, N., Herrmann, A. S., Müssig, J., “Natural and man-made cellulose fibre-reinforced poly (lactic acid) (PLA) composites: An overview about mechanical characteristics and application areas”, Composites Part A Applied Science and Manufacturing, 40: 810–821, (2009).
28. [28] Holbery, J., Houston, D., “Natural-fiber-reinforced polymer composites in automotive applications”, Jom, 58: 80–86, (2006).
29. [29] Dicker, M. P. M., Duckworth, P. F., Baker, A. B., Francois, G., Hazzard, M. K., Weaver, P. M., “Green composites: A review of material attributes and complementary applications”, Composites Part A Applied Science and Manufacturing, 56: 280–289, (2014).
30. [30] Faruk, O., Bledzki, A. K., Fink, H. P., Sain, M., “Progress report on natural fiber reinforced composites”, Macromolecular Materials and Engineering, 299: 9–26, (2014).
31. [31] Santulli, C., “Effect of Stacking Sequence on the Tensile and Flexural Properties of Glass Fibre Epoxy Composites Hybridized with Basalt, Flax or Jute Fibres”, Material Science and Engineering with Advanced Research, 1: 19–25, (2016).
32. [32] Naga Kumar, C., Prabhakar, M. N., Song, J. il., “Effect of interface in hybrid reinforcement of flax/glass on mechanical properties of vinyl ester composites”, Polymer Testing, 73: 404–411, (2019).
33. [33] Mohan, K., Rajmohan, T., “Effects of MWCNT on Mechanical Properties of Glass-Flax Fiber Reinforced Nano Composites”, Materials Today Proceedings, 5: 11628–11635, (2018).
34. [34] Meenakshi, C. M., Krishnamoorthy, A., “Preparation and mechanical characterization of flax and glass fiber reinforced polyester hybrid composite laminate by hand lay-up method”, Materials Today Proceeding, 5: 26934–26940, (2018).
35. [35] Turkmen, I., Koksal, N. S., “Investigation of mechanical properties and impact strength depending on the number of fiber layers in glass fiber-reinforced polyester matrix composite materials”, Materials Testing, 56: 472–478, (2014).
36. [36] Cihan, M., Sobey, A. J., Blake, J. I. R., “Mechanical and dynamic performance of woven flax/E-glass hybrid composites”, Composites Science and Technology, 172: 36–42, (2019).
37. [37] Saidane, E. H., Scida, D., Pac, M. J., Ayad, R., “Mode-I interlaminar fracture toughness of flax, glass and hybrid flax-glass fibre woven composites: Failure mechanism evaluation using acoustic emission analysis”, Polymer Testing ,75: 246–253, (2019).
38. [38] Manteghi, S., Sarwar, A., Fawaz, Z., Zdero, R., Bougherara, H., “Mechanical characterization of the static and fatigue compressive properties of a new glass/flax/epoxy composite material using digital image correlation, thermographic stress analysis, and conventional mechanical testing”, Materials Science and Engineering C, 99: 940–950, (2019).
39. [39] Yu, H., Zhou, C., “Sandwich diffusion model for moisture absorption of flax/glass fiber reinforced hybrid composite”, Composite Structures, 188: 1–6, (2018).
40. [40] Muralidhar, B. A., “Study of flax hybrid preforms reinforced epoxy composites”, Materials Design, 52: 835–840, (2013).
41. [41] Fiore, V., Calabrese, L., Scalici, T., Bruzzaniti, P., Valenza, A., “Bearing strength and failure behavior of pinned hybrid glass-flax composite laminates”, Polymer Testing, 69: 310–319, (2018).
42. [42] Zhang Y., Li Y., Ma H., Yu T., “Tensile and interfacial properties of unidirectional flax/glass fiber reinforced hybrid composites”, Composites Science and Technology, 88: 172–177, (2013).
43. [43] Barouni, A. K., Dhakal, H. N., “Damage investigation and assessment due to low-velocity impact on flax/glass hybrid composite plates”, Composite Structures, 226: 111224, (2019).
44. [44] Saidane, E. H., Scida, D., Assarar, M., Ayad, R., “Damage mechanisms assessment of hybrid flax-glass fibre composites using acoustic emission”, Composite Structures, 174: 1–11, (2017).
45. [45] Adem, E., Didwania E. M., Reddy, G. M., Korisho, E. G., “Experimental analysis of e-glass /epoxy and e-glass /polyester composites for auto body panel”, American International Journal of Research in Science Technology Engineering Mathematics, 10(4): 377-383, (2015).
46. [46] Alemayehu, Z., Nallamothu, R. B., Liben, M., Nallamothu, S. K., Nallamothu, A.K., “Experimental investigation on characteristics of sisal fiber as composite material for light vehicle body applications”, Materials Today Proceeding, 38: 2439–2444, (2021).
47. [47] Okafor, C. E., Onovo, A. C., Imoisili, P. E., Kulakarni, K. M., Ihueze, C. C., “Optimal route to robust hybridization of banana-coir fibre particulate in polymer matrix for automotive applications”, Materialia, 16: 101098, (2021).
48. [48] Getu, D., Nallamothu, R. B., Masresha, M., Nallamothu, S. K., Nallamothu, A. K., “Production and characterization of bamboo and sisal fiber reinforced hybrid composite for interior automotive body application”, Materials Today Proceeding, 38: 2853–2860, (2021).
49. [49] https://www.kompozitshop.com/epoksi-recine-ve-sertlestirici. Access date: 03.11.2020.
50. [50] American Society for Testing and Materials. Standard Test Method for Tensile Properties of Polymer Matrix Composite Material, ASTM D3039/D3039-M, (2000).
51. [51] American Society for Testing and Materials. Standard Test Methods for Flexural Properties of Unreinforced and Reinforced Plastics and Electrical Insulating Materials, ASTM D790-03, (2003).
52. [52] American Society for Testing and Materials. Standard Test Method for Rockwell Hardness of Plastics and Electrical Insulating Materials, ASTM D785-03, (2004).