Browsing by Author "Kerod Sisay"

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    nvestigation Of the Interlaminar Fracture Toughness Of Glass Hybridized Woven Sisal Reinforced Plastic Composite
    (Addis Ababa University, 2024-09) Kerod Sisay; Mulugeta Habtemariam (PhD)
    Natural fibers are deemed as a perfect replacement to synthetic materials, because of their advantages over them. However, natural fiber reinforced materials are also subjected to many disadvantages, including lower thermal stability, poor adhesion, and susceptibility to delamination, as compared to synthetic materials. Hybridization with synthetic fibers like glass can compensate for these disadvantages. This experimental study investigates the interlaminar fracture toughness of sisal/glass fiber hybrid composites, aiming to evaluate their mechanical properties in comparison to pure sisal and glass composites. Using ASTM D5528-13 standards, Mode-I fracture tests were conducted on fifteen specimens manufactured via the hand layup method. The study included evaluating the crack propagation behavior as well as measuring the critical strain energy release rate (GIC) under an opening load condition. The experiments show that while pure glass fiber composite has the highest toughness and stiffness, the hybrid composites demonstrated an improvement over pure sisal laminate. The finding suggests that hybrid composites are suitable for medium and low mechanical performance and green applications. The study concludes that while glass fiber has the best mechanical strength, making it suitable for applications requiring high stiffness or robustness, hybrid sisal/glass composites offer a balanced alternative in terms of mechanical strength, environmental sustainability, and economic attractiveness for structural or quasi-structural applications.