Mechanical property evaluation of woven coir and woven coir–glass fiber-reinforced polyester composites

Abstract

The fiber that serves as a reinforcement in reinforced composites may be artificial or natural. Past studies show that artificial fibers such as glass, carbon, etc., have been generally used in fiber-reinforced composites. Although glass and other synthetic fiber-reinforced composites possess high specific strength, their fields of application are very limited because of their inherent higher cost of production and low biodegradability. In this study, woven coir and woven coir–glass fiber-reinforced polyester composites were developed and their mechanical properties were evaluated. Scanning electron micrographs of fractured surfaces were used for qualitative evaluations of the interfacial properties of woven coir and woven coir–glass hybrid polyester composites. The results indicated that the properties of woven coir composites can be considerably improved by incorporation of glass plies.