Influence of textile properties on dynamic mechanical behavior of epoxy composite reinforced with woven sisal fabrics

Abstract

Due to low cost and environmentally friendly characteristics, natural fibers gain much attention over synthetic fiber. The aim of the present work is to characterize the textile properties of three different types of sisal fabric and study dynamic mechanical properties and water absorption behavior of the sisal fabric reinforced epoxy composite. Influence of grams per square meter of fabric, weaving pattern of the fabric on textile properties of the fabric is studied first. Further, the effect of the same on the dynamic mechanical properties of the sisal composites is studied. Effect of fiber weight percentage and dynamic frequency on dynamic mechanical properties also studied. Results reveal that the storage modulus (G') decreases with increasing temperature in all the woven types of composites under consideration. However, Plain 2 (P2) and Weft Rib (WR) composites have shown better values of G' even after the glass transition temperature (Tg). From the results, it is also evident that storage and loss modulus (G'') increases when the yarn diameter decreases which is observed at a higher temperature also. It is also observed that fabric density also plays a significant role in the enhancement of G' and G' values. The water absorption of Plain 1 (P1) based composites are found to be less compared to the other types of composites analyzed.