Effect of Hybrid Materials Configuration on The Mechanical Properties of Composites

Abstract

Composite materials have become increasingly popular over the last few years, particularly in the industrial manufacturing sector. This is because such composites have strong thermal and mechanical properties. In the present work, compound materials containing natural palm fibers and synthetic glass fibers were investigated in order to identify ways to strengthen the binder material (epoxy resin). Thus, three different groups of samples were prepared for experimentations. The specimens of the first group consist of seven alternating layers, with the upper layer containing glass fibers and the second layer of palm fibers. This pattern continues down to the bottom layer, which is again made up of glass fibers. The second group samples also contain seven layers, with two upper layers of glass fibers, three layers of palm fibers in the middle, and two layers of glass fibers at the bottom. On the other hand, the samples of the third group contain two layers of glass fibers at the top and the bottom, with powdered palm fibers being used in the middle layers. The findings of the experiments revealed that the first group samples were less conductive to heat (overall reduction of 15.9% than other groups’ samples), whilst the samples of the second group produced the greatest hardness, tensile strength, and flexural strength values (improvement of 8.2%, 6.4%, and 48.5%, respectively, as compared to other groups’ samples). Finally, the third group samples had the greatest impact resistance (total average of enhancement is 21.6%) of all the samples.

Keywords

• palm fiber
• mechanical properties
• glass fiber
• epoxy
• thermal conductivity