Mechanical Properties of Jute Fiber Reinforced Thermosetting Composites

황마섬유 보강 열경화성 복합재료의 기계적 특성

Recently, natural fibers draw much interests in composite industry due to low cost, light weight, and environment-friendly characteristics compared with glass fibers. In this study, mechanical properties were evaluated for two extreme cases of jute fiber orientations, i.e. the unidirectional yarn composites and the felt fabric composites. Samples of jute fiber composites were fabricated by RTM process using epoxy resin, and tensile, compression, and shear tests were conducted. As can be expected, unidirectional fiber specimens in longitudinal direction showed the highest strength and modulus. Compared with glass/epoxy composites of the similar fabric architecture and fiber volume fraction, the tensile strength and modulus of jute felt/epoxy composites reached only 40% and 50% levels. However, the specific tensile strength and modulus increased to 80% and 90% of the glass/epoxy composites. The main reason for the poor mechanical properties of jute composites is associated with the weak interfacial bonding between fiber and matrix. The effect of surface treatment of jute fibers on the interfacial bonding will be examined in the future work.