The application of natural fiber-reinforced composites is gaining interest in the automotive, aerospace, construction, and marine fields due to its advantages of being environmentally friendly and lightweight, having a low cost, and having a lower energy consumption during production. The incorporation of natural fibers with glass fiber hybrid composites may lead to some engineering and industrial applications. In this study, abaca/glass fiber composites were prepared using the vacuum-assisted resin transfer method (VARTM). The effect of different lamination stacking sequences of abaca–glass fibers on the tensile, flexural, and impact properties was evaluated. The morphological failure behavior of the fractured-tensile property was evaluated by 3D X-ray Computed Tomography and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results of mechanical properties were mainly dependent on the volume fraction of abaca fibers, glass fibers, and the arrangement of stacking sequences in the laminates. The higher volume fraction of abaca fiber resulted in a decrease in mechanical properties causing fiber fracture, resin cracking, and fiber pullout due to poor bonding between the fibers and the matrix. The addition of glass woven roving in the composites increased the mechanical properties despite the occurrence of severe delamination between the abaca–strand mat glass fiber.

This study aims to demonstrate the effects of various stacking sequences of different glass fiber architecture forms on the mechanical properties of glass fibre reinforced polyester composites. The composites were manufactured by hand lay-up technique and its mechanical properties were characterized in terms of tensile, flexural, and drop-ball impact tests as well as water absorption. The mechanical properties of the glass fiber reinforced polyester were somewhat affected depending on the stacking sequences from single alternating order, double alternating order, and triple alternating order of chopped strand mat and plain-woven fabric piled in ten (10) to fourteen (14) layers. The laminates consisting of alternating sequence manner of plain-woven fabric and chopped strand mat stacked in different layers have no significant effect on the mechanical properties. Stacking sequence of double alternating layer piled in twelve (12) layers was found to have better tensile strength than single and double alternating order of two different glass fiber form while the triple alternating manner piled in twelve (12) layers resulted to higher tensile modulus. The double alternating order of different glass fiber forms stacked in twelve (12) layers resulted to an improvement in flexural properties. Some selected laminates exhibited no delamination in drop-ball impact test and minimal water absorption when immersed in water for 30 days for all the laminates.

Woven abaca fiber also known as “Sinamay” was usually used in textile and handcraft industries. In this paper, the use of woven abaca fiber was utilized as a potential component in a fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite material. It also aims to study the effects of increasing abaca fiber layer on the mechanical and water absorption properties of the composite. The composite laminates having 1, 3, 5, and 7 layers of woven abaca stacked in between of glass fiber mats: plain-woven fabric and chopped strand and polyester resin as binder were fabricated by hand lay-up technique. These abaca-glass fiber reinforced polyester composite specimens were characterized using tensile test, flexural test, izod impact test, and water absorption test. Upon introducing and increasing the amount of abaca layers in the composite, the results showed that its properties were significantly changed. The mechanical strength was decreased while water absorbed was increased as the amount of abaca layer increases.