Mechanical Visco Elastic and Tribological Behaviour of Milkweed Glass Epoxy Hybrid Composites

Abstract

The high-performance synthetic fibres like kevlar, glass, carbon, boron, etc., reinforced polymeric composites find wide applications in many fields right from aerospace to sporting goods due to their key advantages such as high strength, stiffness to weight ratio, tailorable properties and simplicity in fabrication. The handling and disposal of these materials as solid wastes after service, however, has developed into a significant issue. Environmentally friendly materials are being used in an effort to combat this. Natural fibre composites take on relevance in this setting. Natural fibers are biodegradable, renewable and when used as reinforcement in composites, offer several advantages such as light weight, low cost, high specific strength, high specific modulus, reduced tool wear and safe manufacturing process as compared to synthetic fiber composites. Today natural fiber composites find wide applications in construction, packaging, furniture and automotive fields. newlineThe ability of stress transfer between matrix and fibre at the fiber/matrix interface determines properties of natural fibre composites. However, it has been found that there is poor interfacial adhesion between natural fibre and polymer matrix, which causes natural fibre composites to be weaker. Researchers recommend fibre alkali treatment to increase interfacial bonding as a result of their findings. newlineNatural fiber composites also suffer from certain limitations such as lower modulus, lower strength and poor moisture resistance. To overcome these limitations and to obtain great diversity of material properties, hybrid composites have been conceived where in two or more fibers are reinforced in a single matrix. In hybrid composites higher performance of synthetic fiber and environmental advantages of natural fibers would be combined. These days along with natural fibers, glass fibers are widely used in hybrid composites due to their higher strength, light weight, dimensional stability, resistance to corrosion and electricity. newlineIn the present study,