Fabrication and Mechanical Characterization of Natural Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites

Abstract

Natural fibers, which are usually discarded as agricultural waste, have a significant potential to serve as reinforcements. This paper investigates the mechanical properties of polymer composites reinforced with natural fibers like flax, hemp, and jute. Epoxy resin is used to make the matrix, and the composites were fabricated using the hand lay-up technique. Mechanical characterization of the fabricated composites reveals that hemp-reinforced natural polymers have better tensile and flexural strength compared to other jute- and flax-reinforced composites. Composites containing Jute/ Epoxy (S1) and hemp/ epoxy (S2) show the same amount of absorbed impact energy. A natural composite reinforced with hemp absorbed the maximum water.