Reinforcement of a novel woven pineapple yarn and wire mesh on natural fiber hybrid composite

Abstract

There is increasing demand for new and improved composite materials for varied applications in modern industries. These materials must have essential characteristics of being lightweight and durable along with exceptional mechanical qualities, high strength, and environmental sustainability. Conventional mono-fiber composite materials are deemed unsuitable as they fail to meet these important specifications. Consequently, researchers are continually investigating the use of various reinforcements inside polymer matrices to achieve the requisite mechanical performance. This investigation examines the development of novel weaving techniques for composite materials prepared using pineapple fibers, pineapple yarn, stainless steel wire mesh (SSWM) (0.5 mm), and epoxy resin. The hand lay-up technique is the manufacturing method that is used to fabricate the composites. To evaluate the mechanical characteristics of the hybrid composites, 45° and 90° wire mesh orientations are used. Mechanical tests demonstrate that the composite material fabricated with a novel weaving technique using pineapple leaf fiber yarn on wire mesh (PFW) at 45° orientation has excellent strength, with tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength, and hardness values of 35.96 MPa, 56.95 MPa, 6.25 J, and 24.9 VHN, respectively. The largest natural frequency of 1338.2 Hz is observed with wire mesh orientation of 90° in the clamp-free condition. These results demonstrate that the newly developed hybrid laminated composite material has a significant enhancement in the mechanical strength with wire mesh orientation of 45°.