Comparative Evaluation on Mechanical Properties of Jute, Pineapple leaf fiber and Glass fiber Reinforced Composites with Polyester and Epoxy Resin Matrices

Environmental consciousness and an increasing concern with the greenhouse effect have stimulated the construction, automotive, and packing industries to seem for sustainable materials that can replace conventional synthetic polymeric fibers. Natural fibers seem to be a good alternative since they are readily available in fibrous form and can be extracted from plant leaves at very low costs. In this work we have studied the mechanical properties of the composites made by reinforcing Jute, Pineapple leaf fiber and Glass fiber as 1: 1: 1 ratio into a polyester and epoxy resin. The fiber content in the composite was varied from 0.18 to 0.42 by volume fraction and the variation of mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural and impact properties in each case were studied. The results show that the Jute, Pineapple leaf fiber and Glass fiber reinforced epoxy composite exhibited better mechanical properties than Jute, Pineapple leaf fiber and Glass fiber polyester composite. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.