Abstract Extensive efforts have been made in the last decade for the development of natural fibre composites. This development paved the way for engineers and researchers to come up with natural fibre composites (NFCs) that exhibit better mechanical properties. The present review is based on the mechanical properties of jute, abaca, coconut, kenaf, sisal, and bamboo fibre-reinforced composites. Before selecting any NFC for a particular application, it becomes necessary to understand its compatibility for the same, which can be decided by knowing its mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural, and impact strengths. This review paper emphasises on the factors influencing the mechanical properties of NFCs like the type of matrix and fibre, interfacial adhesion, and compatibility between matrix and fibre. Efforts are also made to unveil the research gaps from the past literatures, as a result of which it is inferred that there is very limited work published in the field of vibration incorporating potential fillers such as red mud and fly ash with NFCs.

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Hybrid natural fibre polymer composites have attracted attention of research community owing to their better mechanical properties as compared to conventional materials. Besides being inexpensive, natural fibres are eco-friendly in nature. In past literature, abaca has shown tremendous potential for its suitability in structural applications. Present work deals with mechanical characterization and modelling of hybrid abaca epoxy composites with red mud as filler. Hybrid composites were prepared by hand lay-up technique. Experiments were designed based on full factorial method having three control parameters, namely weight percentage of abaca (2.6, 5.26 and 7.9 wt%), weight percentage of red mud (4, 8 and 12 wt%) and particle size of red mud (68, 82 and 98 µm). Flexural and impact strength of composites were evaluated. Mathematical models for flexural and impact strength of hybrid abaca composites were developed using response surface method. Developed models for mechanical properties of composite were analysed using analysis of variance to recognize the significance of control parameters or input variables on the mechanical properties of hybrid composites. Moreover, interaction effects of input variables on flexural and impact strength of hybrid composites were also investigated. Developed model also enables us to predict mechanical properties of hybrid composites.

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