Impact strength analysis of novel Kenaf fiber (KF) epoxy composite laminate with and without the reinforcement of stainless-steel wire mesh. Composite without stainless reinforcement is made using 5 plies of bidirectional composite laminate fabric, and composite laminate with reinforcement made using bidirectional fiber fabric and stainless-steel wire mesh stacked in alternate sequence. This research is aimed to achieve better impact strength with the addition of stainless-steel wire mesh reinforcement. The experimental and control group were taken with sample size as 20. The impact testing is done according to ASTM D3039 standard. The resulting impact strength of the samples of the experimental group is on average of the sample pieces. Strength of composites depends on several variables, including fiber and matrix strengths, fiber volume percentage, and fiber-matrix interfacial bonding. In a matrix, fibers serve as load transporters. Effective and consistent stress distribution is more important for good impact strength. The resulting impact strength analysis of the samples of the experimental group is an average of the sample pieces. Novel KF/stainless steel wire mesh reinforced composite laminate had an average of the number of samples that were decided with a power of 80%. The results of the studies were assessed using T-test and it was found that the significance value of p < 0.001 was attained which is less than (p < 0.05) indicating that there is a statistical significance between the two samples. The mean impact strength of the samples of experimental and control group, the resulting impact strength of the samples of experimental group is on average 45% higher than that of control group. The KF reinforcement laminate has good enough strength, when compared to the 5 layers KF laminate.

PDF (Download Full text)

Download Citation (XML)