ISBN: 978-15-086565-24

Date: 22.3.2015
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EMERGING TRENDS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH

Mechanical Property Evaluation of Jute-Glass

Fibre Reinforced (Fe2O3) Hybrid Epoxy
Composite
S.G. Karthikeyan,
PG Scholar, Dept. of Manufacturing Engineering,
Pallavan College of Engineering,
Kanchipuram, India 631502
E-mail: Karthickmechdept@gmail.com

Abstract In recent years, Natural fibers being used widely

in Engineering and Technological fields. Natural fibers like jute,
sisal, hemp, lufa, coir, banana, oil palm, flax etc., which are
derived from annually renewable resources, are compatible with
the environment. In an effort to develop a Superior but
economical composite, a natural fiber can be combined with a
synthetic fiber in the same matrix material which gives well
advantage of the properties of both the fibers. This project deals
with the mechanical testing of tensile, impact and flexural
properties of alkali treated woven jute natural fiber and woven
glass fiber reinforced epoxy composite has been evaluated
experimentally. Hand lap up method is used to fabricate the juteglass fiber laminates of hybrid epoxy composite with IronOxide/Ferric-Oxide (Fe2O3) as a Filler material. Specimen
preparation and testing carried out as per ASTM standards.
Keywords- natural fibers; epoxy composite; synthetic fiber;
hand lap up method; ASTM standards.

I.

INTRODUCTION

A composite material which is made by the

combination of two or more materials with a distinct interface
between superior to the original it yields unique material.
Those materials maintain their separate identities in the
composite; such combination produces good mechanical
properties and characteristics that are superior to existing one.
Those elements form a continuous phase and it is called
matrix. The other major element used in reinforcement in the
form of fibers, which are generally added to the matrix to
enhance the properties in the matrix. In such case,
reinforcement is harder, stronger and stiffer than the matrix. In
an effort to develop a superior and economical composite, a
natural fiber can be combined with a synthetic fiber with the
same matrix material which yields a hybrid composite to attain
a cheap price.

II.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

A. Materials
The jute and glass fiber were cut into the size of
(300x300) mm with different stacking sequence of specific
fiber orientation and jute fiber soaked in 5% of NaOH for
2hrs. Materials used here is
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Jute fiber
Glass fiber
Epoxy resin (LY556)
Hardener (Aradur LY951)
Filler material (Ferric oxide Fe2O3)

1) Jute Fiber
Jute (the golden fiber) is a naturally occurring
lignocellulosic fiber extracted from annual plant in the genus
Corchorus. The harvesting time of jute is 2-3 months and itll
grow 3-5 meters tall. Microbial action in the pond softens the
jute fiber and weakens the bonds between the fibers. Jute fiber
is made of nearly 60% cellulose, 24% hemicellulose, 13%
lignin and 3% other minor constituents like water soluble
compounds, fats and waxes. The chains of cellulose and
hemicellulose run almost parallel to the fiber axis. The
hydrogen bonds and other linkages between the constituents
provide high stiffness to jute fiber. Jute products like carpets,
jute bags, particle boards, handicrafts etc. were using
nowadays with the advantages of high strength, high rigidity
modulus, low cost, renewable nature, low energy consumption
during processing, appreciable toughness, good thermal and
electrical insulation characteristics and wide commercial
availability in various forms etc made it an attractive and most
promising natural fiber for use as reinforcement in composite.

2) Glass Fiber
Glass fibers are made of silicon oxide with addition
of small amounts of other oxides by fine fibers of glass. Glass

IAETSD 2015

http://www.iaetsd.in/proc-22.3.2015.html

92

ISBN: 978-15-086565-24
Date: 22.3.2015
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EMERGING TRENDS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH
TABLE I.

fibers are light in weight, high strength, good temperature and

corrosion & electrical resistance and low in price. Glass fibre
used for fabrication is of bidirectional type Woven Rovings
having 360gsm.

CONFIGURATION OF COMPOSITES

Compositions

Fiber weight

Composites

3) Epoxy Resin (LY556)

Epoxy or poly-epoxide is a thermosetting polymer
formed from reaction of an epoxide resin with polyamine
hardener. Epoxy has a wide range of applications, including
fiber-reinforced plastic materials and general purpose
adhesives. Properties of resin are laminates are dimensionally
stable, low-Viscosity system, excellent water resistance and
free from internal stress.

Resin
weight
(gms)

Hardener
weight
(gms)

Filler
weight
(gms)

Glass
(gms)

Jute
(gms)

C1 (Pure Jute
Fiber)

181.08

600

60

30

C2 (JuteGlass Fiber)

149.3

102.93

500

50

25

4) Hardener (Aradur LY951)

Hardener is an organic solvent which act as a bonding
element used to increase the curing time of the matrix mixture
and also act as a catalyst here. It is excellent adhesion to many
different materials, great strength, toughness and resilience,
outstanding electrical insulating properties, absence of
volatiles on curing, negligible shrinkage.
5) Filler material
Filler material used here to reduce the usage of matrix
mixture and also which strengthens and gives pigmentation to
the composite material. Here Ferric oxide Fe2O3 acts as a
filler material to the composite.
B. Methodology

C. Preparation of Composite Specimen by Hand Layup

Method
A step-by-step fabrication of composite preparation is given
below:
1) First, cut the fiber mats into 300 x 300 mm size.
Then, prepare the matrix by mixing of Epoxy Resin
LY556 and Hardener in the ratio of 10:1
2) Then, place X-Ray sheets be placed in the male &
female die and apply the wax coating in the X-Ray
sheets. Then, apply the mixed matrix on the X-Ray
sheets.
3) Then keep the fiber mat as a first layer and roller be
rolled properly on the mat.
4) Again apply the mixed matrix on the first layer of
fiber and rolled properly.
5) Then second layer of fiber mats kept above the first
layer and apply mixed matrix and again rolled
properly.
6) Similarly the consecutive layer can be formed up to
required thickness..
7) Then the laminates are allowed for curing in
atmospheric condition for 10-20hrs.

III.

MECHANICAL TESTING

The Mechanical properties/testing depend on several

variables of the composition:
Figure 1: Methodology of the Project Overview

IAETSD 2015

http://www.iaetsd.in/proc-22.3.2015.html

93

ISBN: 978-15-086565-24
Date: 22.3.2015
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EMERGING TRENDS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH

a) Properties of the fibre & surface character of the fibre.

b) Properties of the matrix material & nature of the
interfaces.
c) Spatial distribution and alignment.
A. Tensile Test
The tensile strength of a material exhibits maximum
amount of longitudinal stress and the failure which is expected
to occur before on it. The commonly used specimen for tensile
test is the dog-bone type and specimen prepared as per
ASTM D638 standard and its dimension 246x29x10mm.
During the test a uniaxial load is applied through both the ends
of the specimen and the test was conducted on Universal
Testing Machine model UTN (40). Under tension, the gauge
section elongation is recorded against the applied force.
TABLE II.

COMPARISON OF TENSILE TEST RESULT

Figure 4: Tensile Test Specimen Dimension

B. Flexural Test
Flexural test was performed by applying a point load
at the center of the composite material under ASTM D790
standard procedure and the test conducted on UTM Machine
model UTN (40). The specimen of 150x12x10 mm cropped
and loaded in three point bending machine with a span to
depth ratio of 16:1. The flexural strength was found by using
an equation.

Tensile test value

Composite
material

Flexural Strength = 3PL/2bd2

Breaking Load
(Fmax) KN

Ultimate Tensile
strength (MPa)

Pure Jute Fiber

2.90

27.17

Jute-Glass Fiber

4.40

46.60

N/mm2

Where P is the maximum load (N) at failure; L is the

span length (100 mm); b is the width of the specimen (mm)
and d is the thickness (mm).
TABLE III.

COMPARISON OF FLEXURAL TEST RESULT

Flexural test
Composite
material

Figure 2: Tensile Test Specimen

Load (KN)

Flexural strength
(N/mm2)

Pure Jute Fiber

0.52

42.44

Jute-Glass Fiber

1.69

172.45

Figure 5: Flexural Test Specimen

Figure 3: Tensile test configuration

Figure 6: Flexural test configuration

IAETSD 2015

http://www.iaetsd.in/proc-22.3.2015.html

94

ISBN: 978-15-086565-24
Date: 22.3.2015
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EMERGING TRENDS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH

IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The results of various characterization tests are
reported here. The tensile strength, flexural strength and impact
strength has been studied. The observed results are resembled
with pure jute and jute-glass composite samples are presented
in table.5

Figure 7: Flexural Test Specimen Dimension

C. Impact Test
Impact Test was carried out through impact testing
machine, it is also called as Charpy V-notch test and to
determine the amount of energy absorbed by a material during
fracture. Impact test is a standardized high strain-rate test
which is used to measure toughness and yield strength of the
material which is done by allowing the pendulum to break the
test material its shows energy absorption in joules. A test was
conducted on the instrumented pendulum type model IT-30
Impact Tester as per ASTM D256.
TABLE IV.

TABLE V.

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS FOR ENTIRE TEST CONDUCTED

Tensile test
Composite
material

Flexural test

Impact
test

Breaking
load
(Fmax) KN

Ultimate
tensile
strength
(MPa)

Load
(KN)

Flexural
Strength
(N/mm2)

Impact
energy
(Joules)

Pure Jute
Fiber

2.90

27.17

0.52

42.44

Jute-Glass
Fiber

4.40

46.60

1.69

172.45

12

COMPARISON OF IMPACT TEST RESULT

Composite
Material

Impact Energy
(Joules)

Pure Jute Fiber

Jute-Glass Fiber

12

A. Tensile Strength

Figure 8: Impact Test Specimen

Figure 10: Stress Strain Curve for tensile test in pure jute fiber composite

Figure 9: Impact Test Specimen Dimension

IAETSD 2015

http://www.iaetsd.in/proc-22.3.2015.html

95

ISBN: 978-15-086565-24
Date: 22.3.2015
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EMERGING TRENDS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH

Figure 11: Stress Strain Curve for tensile test in jute-glass fiber composite

Figure 12: Tensile Load and UTS comparison of pure jute and jute-glass fiber
composite

Figure 15: Flexural Load and flexural strength comparison of pure jute and
jute-glass fiber composite

C. Impact Energy

B. Flexural Strength

Figure 13: Stress Strain Curve for flexural test in pure jute fiber composite
Figure 16: Impact Test Specimen Dimension

From the values obtained through impact test is quite

very clear that the impact strength of the composite seem to be
jute-glass fiber shows the good impact strength.

V.

CONCLUSION

The pure jute and jute-glass (hybrid) composite

specimens are prepared and subjected to impact, tensile and
flexural loading. From the experiment, the following
conclusions are observed.
Figure 14: Stress Strain Curve for flexural test in jute-glass fiber composite

IAETSD 2015

Hybrid composite sample possess good tensile

strength and it can withstand the strength up to 46.60 MPa and

http://www.iaetsd.in/proc-22.3.2015.html

96

ISBN: 978-15-086565-24
Date: 22.3.2015
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EMERGING TRENDS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH

holding the maximum flexural load of 1.69 KN than the pure

jute fiber and it also absorbs high impact energy of 12 Joules.
From the results, it can be concluded that Hybrid
composite (Jute-Glass Fiber Composites) performing better for
impact, tensile and flexural loading than the pure jute fiber.
The performance of natural fiber composites is lower
than the hybrid composite and it has been used in many
applications which require medium strength. This material can
be effectively used for medium load bearing applications like
automobile bumpers (as a replacement to plastic bumpers),
seat backs, instrument panels, office furniture (as replacement
to wood), passenger train seats, machine covers, low cost
housings, doors, window frames etc.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I express my deep sense of gratitude and indebtedness to
my parents for encouragement, suggestion and immense support for
the smooth progress of this project. I also extend my sincere thanks to
D. Loganathan, A/P-SEC. suggestions imparted and the crucial
counseling extended to me during the time to time review of the
project.

REFERENCES
[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

R.Hoto, G.Furundarena, J.P.Torres, E.Muoz, J.Andrs, J.A.Garca.

Flexural behaviour and water absorption of asymmetrical sandwich
composites from natural fibers and cork agglomerate core. Materials
Letters 127(2014)4852.
A.El-Sabbagh. Effect of coupling agent on natural fibre in natural fibre/
polypropylene composites on mechanical and thermal behaviour.
Composites: Part B 57 (2014) 126135.
William T. Kern, Wonsuk Kim, Alan Argento, Ellen Lee, Deborah F.
Mielewski. Mechanical behavior of microcellular, natural fiber
reinforced composites at various strain rates and temperatures. Polymer
Testing 37 (2014) 148e155.
Vijay Kumar Thakur, Manju Kumari Thakur. Processing and
characterization of natural cellulose fibers/thermoset polymer
composites. Carbohydrate Polymers 109 (2014) 102117.
Xiangming Zhou, Seyed Hamidreza Ghaffar, Wei Dong, Olayinka
Oladiran, Mizi Fan. Fracture and impact properties of short discrete
jute fibre-reinforced cementitious composites. Materials and Design 49
(2013) 3547.
Faris M. AL-Oqla, S.M. Sapuan. Natural fiber reinforced polymer
composites in industrial applications: feasibility of date palm fibers for
sustainable automotive industry. Journal of Cleaner Production 66
(2014) 347e354.
G.M. Arifuzzaman Khan, M. Terano, M.A. Gafur, M. Shamsul Alam.
Studies on the mechanical properties of woven jute fabric reinforced
poly (L-lactic acid) composites. Journal of King Saud University
Engineering Sciences (2013) xxx, xxxxxx. Received 17 September
2013; accepted 3 December 2013.
Mei-po Ho, Hao Wanga, Joong-Hee Lee, Chun-kit Ho, Kin-tak Lau,
Jinsong Leng, David Hui. Critical factors on manufacturing processes
of natural fibre composites. Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 35493562.
M.M. Kabir, H. Wang, K.T. Lau, F. Cardona. Chemical treatments on
plant-based natural fibre reinforced polymer composites: An overview.
Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 28832892.

IAETSD 2015

[10] M. Ramesh , K. Palanikumar, K. Hemachandra Reddy. Mechanical

property evaluation of sisaljuteglass fiber reinforced polyester
composites. Composites: Part B 48 (2013) 19.
[11] WU Heng, FAN Shang-wu, YUAN Xiao-wen, CHEN Lai-fei, DENG
Juan-li. Fabrication of carbon fibers from jute fibers by pre-oxidation
and carbonization. New Carbon Materials Volume 28, Issue 6, Dec
2013. Online English edition of the Chinese language journal.
[12] M. Muthuvel, G. Ranganath , K. Janarthanan, K. Srinivasan.
Characterization Study Of Jute And Glass Fiber Reinforced Hybrid
Composite Material. International Journal of Engineering Research &
Technology (IJERT) Vol. 2 Issue 4, April - 2013 ISSN: 2278-0181.
[13] Soma Dalbehera, S. K. Acharya. Study on mechanical properties of
natural fiber reinforced woven jute-glass hybrid epoxy composites.
ISSN 22777164 Original Article. Received 27 January 2014; accepted
13 February 2014.
[14] Sanjay.M.R*, Arpitha.G.R, B.Yogesha. Investigation on Mechanical
Property Evaluation of Jute - Glass Fiber Reinforced Polyester. IOSR
Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE) e-ISSN:
2278-1684,p-ISSN: 2320-334X, Volume 11, Issue 4 Ver. V (Jul- Aug.
2014), PP 50-57.
[15] K.Sabeel Ahmed, S.Vijayarangan. Elastic property evaluation of juteglass fibre hybrid composite using experimental and CLT approach.
Indian Journal of Engineering & Materials Sciences Vol. 13, October,
2006, pp. 435-442
[16] Antaryami Mishra . Strength and Corrosion Testing of Jute/ GlassEpoxy Hybrid Composite Laminates. Plastic and Polymer Technology
(PAPT) Volume 2 Issue 2, June2013.
[17] Satish Pujari, A. Ramakrishna and M. Suresh Kumar. Comparison of
Jute and Banana Fiber Composites: A Review. International Journal of
Current Engineering and Technology. E-ISSN 2277 4106, P-ISSN
2347 5161
[18] B. Sutharson, M. Rajendran, S. R. Devadasan and B. Selvam. Effect of
chemical treatments on mechanical properties of jute fiber hybrid
composite laminates. ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied
Sciences Vol. 7, No. 6, June 2012 ISSN 1819-6608.
[19] G.Velmurugan,
D.Vadivel,
R.Aravind,
S.P.Vengatesan,
A.Mathiazhagan. Tensile Test Analysis of Natural Fiber Reinforced
Composite. International Journal of Mechanical and Industrial
Engineering (IJMIE) ISSN No. 2231 6477, Vol-2, Iss-4, 2012
[20] M.Ramesh, K.Palanikumar, K.Hemachandra Reddy. Comparative
Evaluation on Properties of Hybrid Glass Fiber- Sisal/Jute Reinforced
Epoxy Composites. Procedia Engineering 51 (2013) 745 750.
Chemical, Civil and Mechanical Engineering Tracks of 3rd Nirma
University International Conference (NUiCONE 2012).
[21] Pavithran C., Mukherjee P.S., Brahmakumar M. and Damodaran A.D.
(1987) Impact Properties of Natural Fiber Composites, Journal of
Material Science Letters, Vol. 6, pp. 882-884.
[22] Rana A.K., Mandal A. and Bandyopadhyay S. (2003) Short Jute Fiber
Reinforced Polypropylene Composites: Effect of Compatibilizer, Impact
Modifier and Fiber Loading, Composite Science and Technology, Vol.
63, pp. 801-806.
[23] Navin Chand and Rohatgi P.K. (1989) Tensile Strength and Fracture of
Sun Hemp-Carbon Hybrid Fibre Composites, Journal of Material
Science Letters, Vol.5, pp. 1181-1182.
[24] Mishra S., Mohanty A.K., Drzal L.T., Misra M., Parija S., Nayak
S.K.and Tripathy S.S. (2003) Studies on Mechanical Performance of
Biofiber/Glass Reinforced Polyester Hybrid Composites, Composites
Science and Technology, Vol. 63, pp.1377-1385.
[25] Abdullah-al-kafi and Abedin M.Z. (2006) Study on the Mechanical
Properties of Jute/glass Fiber-reinforced Unsaturated Polyester Hybrid
Composites: Effect of Surface Modification by Ultraviolet Radiation,
Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, Vol. 25, No.6, pp.575588.

http://www.iaetsd.in/proc-22.3.2015.html

97