nvestigation Of the Interlaminar Fracture Toughness Of Glass Hybridized Woven Sisal Reinforced Plastic Composite
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Date
2024-09
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
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.
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Keywords
Interlaminar Fracture, natural fiber, hybridization, energy release rate, failure mode