A Study on Mechanical Properties of Natural Fiber Reinforced Laminates of Epoxy (Ly 556) Polymer Matrix Composites

The growing need of eco-friendly product manufacturing led to the development of natural fiber composite to suit various applications in the field of Automobile interior parts, construction and manufacturing. Composite material is a material composed of two or more distinct phases (matrix phase and dispersed phase) and having bulk properties significantly different from those of any of the constituents. In this study, the composite materials are reinforced with natural fibers such as Jute, Sisal, Banana, and Palmyra in the Epoxy (LY 556) Matrix. The impressive mechanical properties led to the selection of these fibers for the study. Hand lay-up technique was used for the preparation of composites. Hybrid fiber mates were also prepared using all these fibers. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength, compressive strength, flexural strength and impact strength were determined and compared for the different combinations.