Effect of stacking sequence on mechanical, water absorption, and biodegradable properties of novel hybrid composites for structural applications

This study used a hand layup process to create tri-layer hybrid composites composed of snake grass fiber (SGF) and jute fiber (JF). Two types of hybrid composites were investigated: jute/snake grass/jute (J/S/J) and snake grass/jute/snake grass (S/J/S). The fabricated composites were subjected to mechanical characterization and water absorption studies to verify their compatibility for various applications. The outcome revealed that the J/S/J hybrid sample shows the highest tensile and flexural strength at 68.46 and 78.62 MPa, respectively. This is due to stacking the maximum-strength JF as an exterior layer in the hybrid J/S/J sample. Meanwhile, the S/J/S composite shows a very high impact strength value of 4.45 kJ/mm(2) due to the placement of SGF at the outermost layer. It leads to absorbing more impact energy at sudden load applications. Water absorption studies revealed that the S/J/S composite absorbed more moisture than the J/S/J composite. Furthermore, the S/J/S composite exhibited greater biodegradability than the J/S/J composite based on soil burial experiments. From this study, it can be concluded that the J/S/J composite is suitable for structural applications because it has higher tensile and flexural qualities. In contrast, the S/J/S composite can be employed under damping conditions because it has better impact strength.