ABSTRACT Pineapple and glass fibers reinforced vinyl ester hybrid composites were prepared in both the dispersed and skin-core types at 40 wt% using hand lay-up technique, and their mechanical properties were studied based on the content of glass fibers (5, 11, 16, and 19 wt%). The effects of the glass fiber addition on mechanical properties were discussed with varying the fiber content by keeping the overall fiber content as constant. The fractographic studies on the fracture surface of tested composite specimens were examined by using scanning electron microscopy. The results were compared with the neat resin samples and pineapple-alone composites. The results show that the mechanical properties of composites increased with an increase in glass fiber addition. Hybrid composite having the pineapple fiber of 21 wt% and the glass fiber 19 wt% show the maximum level of mechanical properties in both types of hybrid composites. The dispersed type hybrid composites show inferior performance than the skin-core type hybrid composites. The theoretical model was used to predict and compare the experimental results and was also found to be in good agreement.

Abstract The influences of fabrication parameters such as the fiber content, fiber length, alkali concentration and alkali treatment duration on the mechanical properties (tensile and flexural strength) of Areca fine fiber (AFF)-reinforced phenol formaldehyde (PF) composite were investigated in the present study. The Taguchi’s experimental design (L27 orthogonal array) was used to prepare the composites and to analyze the mechanical properties of composites. The analysis of variance and signal-to-noise ratio with the Taguchi method were also used to understand the influence of the fabrication parameters on the tensile and flexural strength of the composite. Results show that the fiber content was the most influential fabrication parameter on both the tensile and flexural strength followed by the fiber length and the alkali treatment duration. The interaction between the fabrication parameters also has a significant effect on the tensile and flexural strength of the composite. The optimal combination of fabrication parameters to obtain the maximum tensile and flexural strength was found to be FL = 10 mm, FC = 35 vol%, AC = 6% and ATD = 1 h.