Mechanical behavior of woven natural fiber fabric composites: Effect of weaving architecture, intra-ply hybridization and stacking sequence of fabrics

A comprehensive analysis carried out on the mechanical and free vibration properties of woven natural fiber polymer composites is presented. Jute fabric with three different weave types (plain, basket and herringbone) and intra-ply woven jute-banana fabrics are considered for investigation of the effect of weave type of a fabric and its stacking sequence on mechanical, dynamic mechanical and free vibration properties. Enhancement of the properties is found with the number of layers of fabric and better properties obtained for four layers. Uniform stress distribution along warp and weft direction of fabric with basket weave type lead to better properties compared to other weave types for four-layered composites. Intra-ply hybridization of jute-banana also enhances the mechanical properties but slightly less than the jute-basket fabric composite. The investigations on effect of layer sequence of fabrics revealed improvement in mechanical properties. Layered composite with relatively strong intra-ply fabric as the facing layer and relatively weak jute plain fabrics as the core layer has higher tensile and flexural properties. Experimental modal analysis carried out on beam-like composite laminates reveal that natural frequencies and associated modal damping factor are significantly influenced by stacking sequence and weave type of a fabric. The density of the composite calculated based on Archimedes principle matches well with the theoretical values.