INFLUENCE OF FIBRE LENGTH EFFECT ON MODE II FRACTURE TOUGHNESS OF HYBRID COMPOSITE

Natural fibre-reinforced polymers (NFRP) are now increasingly used in various fields of engineering. These materials found wide applications due to their high strength to weight ratio. The use of natural fibre reinforced plastics represents attractive and suitable methods for replacing the synthetic fibres like glass fibre and carbon fibre. Mode II inter laminar fracture is one of the major factors in delamination failure of polymer composites. This current study focuses on reinforcement of polymer (Epoxy resin) with banana and glass fibre to form hybrid composites. Hybrid composites are prepared using hand layup technique. End-Notch-Flexure (ENF) specimens are used to find the mode II fracture toughness. These composites are subjected to the three point bending test to find the mode II inter laminar fracture toughness i.e. the ability of the material to withstand in plane shear produced in it. Critical stress intensity factor GIIc is calculated to measure the fracture toughness. From the experimental results it is found that, 25mm fibre length at 12 volume fraction of fibre (glass and banana fibre 50% each) yields the maximum fracture toughness value.