Hemp fibre composites – a sustainable alternative for lightweight structural application in aerospace and automotive industries

The development of high-performance materials derived from natural resources is a growing trend globally. This study investigates the mechanical properties of hemp fibre-reinforced epoxy composites via. experimental and numerical approaches. The composite material was developed using a hydraulic press with a heating plate (compression moulding method) with varying volume fractions of hemp fibre by 40%, 50% and 60%. The mechanical properties viz., tensile and flexural strength are evaluated using the universal testing machine. To anticipate the mechanical properties of the composites, the numerical analysis was performed using Ansys software. The results revealed that the composite specimen with a volume fraction of 60% reinforcement and 40% matrix demonstrated the best results in both tensile and flexural characteristics compared to other volume fraction composite specimens in both experimental and numerical approaches. The addition of hemp fibres to the epoxy matrix enhanced the strength of the composites. The engine cover made up of hemp/epoxy composites exhibits the effective feasibility of producing semi-structural aeronautical components out of natural fibre composites rather than glass fibre ones. Copyright © 2024 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.