Thermal Behavior Of Natural Fiber Mat Hybrid Composite For Tooling Materials

Nor Fariha, Sohod (2013) Thermal Behavior Of Natural Fiber Mat Hybrid Composite For Tooling Materials. Project Report. UTeM, Melaka, Malaysia. (Submitted)

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Abstract

Aerospace industry manufacturers require large tools to fabricate large aerospace components. The use of synthetic fiber reinforced composite tooling provides a lightweight solution as compared to metal tooling, yet it is expensive and not recyclable. This project serves to introduce natural fiber as partial replacement in synthetic fiber composite for tooling materials. This project aimed to fabricate jute/glass fiber reinforced epoxy laminate composite by varying fiber orientation and stacking sequence through hand lay-up and vacuum bagging technique, characterize the physical and mechanical behaviors of the fabricated laminate composite and investigate the deformation behavior associated with dimensional stability of the composite when subjected to thermal cycling. The orientation of the laminae varied at (0/90º) and (-45/45º), and stacked up to 7 and 9 plies with different sequence. The laminate composite was subjected to water absorption, flexural and thermal cycling testing. Microscopy examinations were also carried out to observe the deformation behaviour as well as the flexural failure mode of the laminate composite prior to and post thermal cycling. It was found that the regardless of orientation and stacking sequence, jute/glass fiber reinforced epoxy laminate composite possessed low density and high water absorption capacity which caused swelling on the laminate composite. The thermal cycling test conducted at 180°C resulted in reduction of dimensional stability due to different coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the constituent materials and initial degradation of the laminate composite. Degradation was evidenced as the flexural strength of the laminate composite reduced after 15 thermal cycles. However, the stiffness of the laminate composite showed improvement and this can be attributed to effect of further curing that took place in the composite after thermal cycling. The failure mode showed debonding, delamination and fiber bridging on laminate composite.

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