Investigation of Mechanical Characteristics of Woven Glass-Sisal Hybrid Composites
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Date
2024-12
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Due to their ability to combine the advantages of both natural and synthetic fibers there has
been a growing interest in hybrid fiber composites. These materials can improve mechanical
properties while maintaining the benefits of natural fiber use. This research investigated the
mechanical behavior and energy absorption characteristics of 2x2 twill woven sisal-glass hybrid
epoxy composites focusing on interply and intraply configurations. Primarily the study aimed
to evaluate the effect of hybrid configuration on tensile, compressive, shear, and quasi-static
penetration properties compared to pure glass and sisal composites. Composites of pure sisal,
pure glass, inteply, and intraply hybrid configurations were fabricated using a hand lay-up
technique, with sisal fibers treated with 5% NaOH solution. A total of 80 samples, 5 for each
test of each configuration, were tested following ASTM standards: D3039 for tensile, D695 for
compressive, D3518 for shear, and D6264 for quasi-static penetration.
The pure glass composite exhibited the highest tensile strength (206.65 MPa) and compressive
strength (181.82 MPa), while the pure sisal composite had the lowest values in both categories
(55.89 MPa and 30.91 MPa, respectively). The intraply hybrid showed superior tensile (121.75
MPa) and compressive strength (92.76 MPa) compared to the interply configuration. Shear tests
revealed a maximum shear strength of 22.12 MPa for the glass composite, with the intraply
hybrid showing better performance (19.1 MPa) than the interply (17.2 MPa). In quasi-static
penetration tests, the intraply hybrid absorbed the most energy (22.17 J) next to pure glass
(26.97J), while the interply configuration absorbed slightly less (19.68 J) but exhibited higher
punch shear strength (14.9 MPa) due to its layered structure.
These results demonstrated that hybridization, particularly in the intraply configuration,
enhances energy absorption and mechanical performance compared to interply hybrid
composites. The findings suggest that sisal-glass hybrid composites with intraply configuration
could be suitable for lightweight structural applications where both strength and energy
absorption are critical.
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Keywords
Interply Hybrid, Intraply Hybrid, 2X2 Twill Weave, Energy Absorption, Tensile Strength, compressive Strength, Shear Strength, Quasi-static Penetration, Punch shear strength