Influence of Fiber Orientation on the In-plane Mechanical Properties of Laminated Hybrid Polymer Composites

The objective of this research effort was to gain a better understanding of in-plane tensile and compressive properties of epoxy resin composites reinforced with glass and satin fabric. The effect of fiber content and orientation on the in-plane properties of these laminates has been investigated and the experimentation was performed to determinate property data for material specifications, quality assurance, and structural analysis. The laminates were obtained by hand lay-up process following an appropriate curing cycle and then the laminates were cut to attain the ASTM standards. Specimen configuration varies with variation in percentage of fiber content and orientation, the test ready specimens were subjected to tensile/compressive loads on universal testing machine with a constant cross head velocity. The analysis of the tensile strengths of the laminates was derived as a function of the fiber orientation, while compressive strength is mainly dependent on the percentage of glass content. ANOVA technique was also used to identify the parameter contribution and to generate regression model, the model adequacy is done against the experimental results and found that the results of the regression model are accurate with reasonable degree of approximation.