Mechanical Characterization using Finite Element Analysis of Jute and E-Glass Fabric Reinforced Epoxy Composite Materials

Abstract

Recently, there has been a greater inclination towards natural fiber reinforced plastics composites (NFRPC) because these are environmentally friendly and cost-effective to synthetic fiber reinforced composites. The availability of natural fibers and ease of manufacturing have tempted researchers worldwide to try locally available inexpensive fibers and to study their feasibility of reinforcement purposes and to what extent they satisfy the required specifications of good reinforced polymer composite for tribological applications. In this present work effect of stacking sequence on erosive wear behavior of untreated woven jute and glass fabric reinforced epoxy hybrid composites has been investigated experimentally. Laminates were fabricated by hand lay-up technique in a mold and cured under light pressure for 1 h, followed by curing at room temperature for 48 h. All the laminates were made with a total of 4 plies, by varying the number and position of glass layers so as to obtain four different stacking sequences. One group of all jute laminate was also fabricated for comparison purpose. Total fiber weight fraction was maintained between 50%. Specimen preparation and testing was carried out as per ASTM standards. Finite element models are created with ABACUS/Explicit nonlinear finite element software. These models are used to simulate the impact tests for hybrid composite material with different stacking sequences, as well as different impact speeds. Graphs are plotted to compare the impact behavior of different samples. This technology brief describes an analysis of the dynamic impact of a steel projectile on to a jute glass fiber reinforced plate and the specific advantages of Abacus/Explicit for this type of simulation.