Impact Properties of Jute and Jute Hybrid Reinforced Composites

The use of natural fiber reinforced composites has continuously increased during recent years due to their low density, low cost and environmental friendliness. At current study, a preliminary investigation on the impact properties and morphologies of unsaturated polyester reinforced by jute woven fabric from the used coffee bags with different moisture contents were carried out. Additionally, the effects of the hybridization with glass woven fabric laminated structures were also investigated. Jute/Jute laminated composite, Jute/Glass/Jute and Jute/Jute/Glass laminated hybrid composites had been fabricated by hand lay up method and compared the impact properties by dropped and Izod impact tests. In particularly, the influences of moisture content and different structures of the jute and glass hybrid composites on the impact properties were discussed. Results showed the strength and elongation of the jute yarn decreased with the decrease of the moisture content and affected the mechanical properties of composites consequently. For the hybrid composites, the mechanical properties were affected by the structure dominantly, in details, for natural dried hybrid composites, the Jute/Jute/Glass hybrid composite achieved about 66.7% higher Izod impact energy than that of Jute/Glass/Jute hybrid composites. In particularly, for the dropped impact tests, the jute layer which directly stuck up by the tup (Jute/Jute/Glass) was 46% higher than that the composites with the glass cloth layer exposed to impact (Glass/Jute/Jute) and 68% higher than the Jute/Glass/Jute hybrid composites.