Tensile Behavior of Environment Friendly Jute Epoxy Laminated Composite

Abstract Jute fiber has gained interest in the composite field due to its superior specific properties compared to manmade synthetic fibers like glass, kevlar, asbestos, etc. In this study, jute composites were made with the vacuum assisted resin infiltration (VARI) techniques having jute fiber preform staking sequences (0/0/0/0), 0/+45°/-45°/0 and 0/90°/90°/0. For all cases, a total of 25% volume fraction of jute fiber was incorporated. The developed composites were characterized by tensile and three point bend tests and the experimental results thus obtained were compared with that of the theoretical values. After both mechanical tests, fracture surfaces were cut and observed under high resolution FEG SEM (field emission gun scanning electron microscopy). In the case of 0/0/0/0 and 0/+45°/-45°/0 laminate, longitudinal tensile strength has been found to be higher than that of the transverse direction. However, for 0/90°/90°/0 laminate, tensile strength in both directions have been found to be very close to each other. For all developed composites, experimental results revealed that the tensile properties of the developed composites are strongly dependent on the tensile strength of jute fiber and that the tensile properties of jute fiber are very much defect sensitive. Finally, initiative has also been taken to discuss the mechanical behaviors of the composites in terms of the fracture morphologies observed under the SEM.