Improvement of Mechanical and Wear Resistance of Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Through Synthetic Fiber (Glass/Carbon) Hybridization

Natural fiber-reinforced polymer (NFRP) composites are biodegradable materials than synthetic fiber such as glass and carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites. However, due to the lower mechanical properties of NFRP composites, application in structural components is limited. Therefore, the present investigation focuses on the effect of carbon and glass fiber hybridization with flax and Kenaf fiber on tribo-mechanical properties of the hybrid composites. Four types of hybrid composites (C2F3C2, C2K3C2, G(2)F(3)G(2) and G(2)K(3)G(2)) and plain glass, carbon, flax and kenaf fiber reinforced polymer composites are fabricated by hand lay-up method. The results reveal that flax fiber hybridization with carbon fiber (C2F3C2) gives the best hybrid effect and improves its flexural strength (364.4 +/- 15.0 MPa), modulus (24.7 +/- 1.4GPa), and Izod impact strength (26.5 +/- 2.4 kJ/m(2)). However, Kenaf fiber hybridization with glass fiber (G(2)K(3)G(2)) gives optimum flexural strength (335.6 +/- 33.2 MPa), modulus (17.2 +/- 0.9GPa), and Izod impact strength (80.2 +/- 16.0 kJ/m(2)). Kenaf fiber reinforced polymer hybrid composites (G(2)K(3)G(2)) show the lowest abrasive specific wear rate (21.9 +/- 0.9mm(3)/Nm) compared to other hybrid composites. Furthermore, the fractography analysis of hybrid composites is carried out using scanning electron microscopy to make possible structure-property co-relationship.