Hybrid composites have shown innumerable benefits to the research communities in terms of environmental friendliness and mechanical properties. This research study presents the mechanical characterization and moisture uptake of kenaf/pineapple leaf fiber‐reinforced polypropylene hybrid composites with several relative fiber ratios. A comparison was also made between nonhybrid and hybrid kenaf/pineapple leaf fiber‐reinforced composites to investigate the hybridization effect. In this work, the composite materials were fabricated via the hot compression technique. Mechanical tests were performed to obtain the tensile, flexural, and Charpy impact properties of nonhybrid and hybrid kenaf/pineapple leaf fiber‐based composites. The water absorption characteristics were then obtained by immersing the composite materials in the water until the saturation point was reached. The findings concluded that the mechanical properties and moisture uptake behaviors of the composites were improved through the hybridization. The hybrid composites with a relative fiber ratio of 25:75 were particularly promising with the improvement of 10.90% in tensile strength; 16.13% in flexural strength; and 6.80% in impact strength in both flatwise and edgewise orientations compared to nonhybrid kenaf‐based composites. Meanwhile, the diffusion coefficient of hybrid composites (25:75) was 56.12% lower than nonhybrid pineapple leaf fiber‐based composites. Thus, the results indeed demonstrated that the balance between mechanical properties and moisture sensitivity can be obtained through the hybridization of kenaf and pineapple leaf fiber in the composite materials.

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The hybridization of natural and synthetic fibers in composite materials has gained the attention in the research field due to environmental awareness. Therefore, this study focuses on the effects of fiber stacking configuration on the tensile and quasi‐static penetration of kenaf/glass hybrid fiber metal laminates (FMLs). Kenaf/glass reinforced polypropylene FMLs with two different hybrid stacking configurations were prepared using hot compression process. Non‐hybrid kenaf and glass fiber reinforced metal laminates were also prepared for comparison. The tensile test was conducted according to ASTM E8, while the quasi‐static penetration test was carried out in accordance with ASTM D 6264 using 12.7 and 20 mm hemispherical indenters. The fractured surface of FMLs due to tensile loading was examined using scanning electron microscope, while optical micrograph was used to investigate the failure mechanism of quasi‐statically penetrated laminates. From the results, FMLs with the glass plies at the outer layers of composite (H1) showed a positive hybrid effect as they displayed better tensile and penetration resistance, compared to the non‐hybrid kenaf and glass reinforced FMLs. Furthermore, it could be seen that the overall performance of FMLs decreased as the kenaf content in the laminates further increases for hybrid FML. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:568–577, 2019. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers

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Fatigue life characteristic of hybrid composite reinforced metal laminate is a notable investigation since this kind of material offers several superior characteristics over conventional metallic alloy. A majority of the researches have focused on the mechanical properties of hybrid composite and conventional fibre metal laminate such as glass reinforced aluminium epoxy and aramid fibre reinforced aluminium laminate. However, investigation on the fatigue life behaviour of hybrid composite reinforced metal laminate still remains unexplored. In this study, the fatigue life characteristic of hybrid kenaf/glass reinforced metal laminate with different fibre configurations, orientation and stress ratio was presented. Fibre metal laminate was manufactured through hot press moulding compression method using annealed aluminium 5052 as the skin layers and the composite laminate as the core constituent. Tensile test was conducted at a quasi-static rate in accordance with ASTM E8 while tension–tension fatigue test was conducted at force controlled constant amplitude according to ASTM E466. Experimental results revealed that fibre metal laminate with 0°/90° fibre orientation exhibited better tensile and fatigue properties compared to fibre metal laminate with ±45° fibre orientation regardless of the woven-ply fibre configurations. Besides that, it was identified that higher stress ratio improves the fatigue life cycle of the fibre metal laminate structures.