Sisal-glass hybrid composites reinforced with silica microparticles

Abstract

In recent years, studies of composite materials have focused on the use of natural fibres as an alternative to synthetic ones. Their attractive mechanical properties, sustainability, low cost and low weight have leveraged research in this area, with the potential of a variety of applications in the engineering field. In this paper, a Full Factorial Design (2¹6¹) experiment was performed to identify the effect of silica microparticle inclusions and the stacking sequence of glass fibre cross-ply fabric and short sisal fibre layers on the apparent density, tensile and flexural strength and modulus of hybrid epoxy composites. In general, the hybrid composites with higher number of glass fibre layers achieve higher values of tensile and flexural strength (348 MPa and 663.28 MPa), tensile and flexural modulus (22 GPa and 2.50 GPa) and higher apparent density (2.02 g/cm³). It is, however, noteworthy that the incorporation of silica particles improves the mechanical performance of composites containing larger amounts of sisal fibres.

Research on hybrid sisal/glass composites: A review

“…Researchers performed several studies on this hybrid composite of sisal/glass with different matrices (epoxy, polyester, polyethylene, and polypropylene (PP)) in different compositions, fiber sizes, orientations, and treatments, prepared with some techniques of manufacture (hand lay-up, compression molded, extrusion machine, press consolidation, solution mixing, resin transfer molding, and injection molding), analyzing several properties (mechanical, water absorption, thermal, rheological, dynamic mechanical, tribological, chemical, electrical, and morphological). 28–65…”

“…Finally, Ferreira et al. 65 analyzed the performance of three-phase composites, with sisal fibers, glass, and silica particles, comparing with these pure or hybrid materials.…”

Mechanical and Thermal Characterization of Natural Intralaminar Hybrid Composites Based on Sisal

“…Several researchers investigated the effects of hybridization on the mechanical and thermal properties of hybrid composites reinforced with different vegetable fibers (i.e., jute, curauá, sisal, ramie, coconut, sugar palm, etc.) or natural fibers combined with glass fibers [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. For example, Almeida et al [14] showed that hybrid composites in which 30 vol.% of glass fiber was replaced by curauá fiber was able to achieve similar results in terms of hardness, impact strength and dynamic mechanical properties.…”

“…For example, Almeida et al [14] showed that hybrid composites in which 30 vol.% of glass fiber was replaced by curauá fiber was able to achieve similar results in terms of hardness, impact strength and dynamic mechanical properties. Ferreira et al [15] investigated the mechanical properties of hybrid sisal/glass composites with inclusions of silica microparticles. The results showed an increase of tensile and flexural strength (by approximately 80%) of hybrid sisal/glass composite when compared to non-hybrid sisal composite.…”

Effect of intralaminar hybridization on mode I fracture toughness of natural fiber-reinforced composites

“…In this sense, vegetal fibers are being used as reinforcement in composites due to several factors: they are not expensive, have low density, low environmental impact, are recyclable, stimulate the economy of regions, are ecologically sustainable and able to be supplied in high quantities [1][2][3]. An added advantage of vegetal fibers is that in some applications, they can be an alternative in replacing synthetic fibers such as glass fiber [4][5][6]. Some applications of natural fiber-reinforced composites (NFRCs) in industry are construction and furniture, music instruments, protective materials (shin guards and helmets) in the sports industry and secondary structures (such as door panels, dash boards, headliners and seat backs) in the automotive industry [2,[7][8][9][10][11][12].…”