Experimental investigation for the dynamic characteristics of short natural fiber reinforced composite materials

The study of mechanical and dynamic characteristics of composite materials is important. Vibration is one of the major problems faced because of the uncertainty and the disturbances due to its surroundings. For composite being used in the structures like aircraft, automobiles, railway coaches and buildings it should have sound mechanical and dynamic characteristics. Many researchers have been interested in the natural fiber based composite materials for solving problems such as environmental sustainability while also having good mechanical properties. In this paper, our objective is to explore the use of the short fiber and studied the dynamic and mechanical characteristics of banana-epoxy; kenaf-epoxy and hemp-epoxy natural fiber reinforced composite materials. The use of short fibers in the composites makes it easy to process and thus reduces the production cost when compared to composites which are made from long fiber mat. All composites which are fabricated have shown enhancement in the mechanical strength when the fiber loading in the composite is increased. It is concluded that the composite samples prepared from kenaf, banana and hemp shows better damping characteristics when compares to the neat epoxy material. It is also found that the hemp fiber based composite has shown the highest tensile strength and kenaf fiber based composite has shown the highest damping propertie

Experimental investigation for the dynamic characteristics of short natural fiber reinforced composite materials

366-377The study of mechanical and dynamic characteristics of composite materials is important. Vibration is one of the major problems faced because of the uncertainty and the disturbances due to its surroundings. For composite being used in the structures like aircraft, automobiles, railway coaches and buildings it should have sound mechanical and dynamic characteristics. Many researchers have been interested in the natural fiber based composite materials for solving problems such as environmental sustainability while also having good mechanical properties. In this paper, our objective is to explore the use of the short fiber and studied the dynamic and mechanical characteristics of banana-epoxy; kenaf-epoxy and hemp-epoxy natural fiber reinforced composite materials. The use of short fibers in the composites makes it easy to process and thus reduces the production cost when compared to composites which are made from long fiber mat. All composites which are fabricated have shown enhancement in the mechanical strength when the fiber loading in the composite is increased. It is concluded that the composite samples prepared from kenaf, banana and hemp shows better damping characteristics when compares to the neat epoxy material. It is also found that the hemp fiber based composite has shown the highest tensile strength and kenaf fiber based composite has shown the highest damping properties

Predicting the effect of fiber orientations and boundary conditions on the optimal placement of PZT sensor on the composite structures

In this paper, the modal-model of the composite structure is predicted and viewed to decide the optimal position of the PZT sensors on the composite structures. The novelty of this work is to systematically study the effect of fiber orientations and boundary conditions on the modal-model and the optimal location of the PZT sensors on the composite structures. The glass fibers are reinforced in a polyester matrix at different fiber orientations such as 0°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 90°. It is used for various engineering applications, especially in the aerospace and automobile sector, and it is very important to measure its dynamical response. The PZT patches can be embedded on the composite structures to measure their vibrational response. In this paper, ABAQUS software is used to build the finite element model of the PZT-composite structure. The composite structure is modeled with different boundary conditions. It is observed that the orientation of the fibers as well as the boundary condition directly put their effect on the modal-model of the composite structure and also on the selection of the optimal position of the PZT patches. It is found that the optimal position of the PZT directly depends upon the fiber orientation