Effect of winding layer and speed on kenaf/glass fiber hybrid reinforced acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) composites

The usage of natural fiber is becoming significant in composite industries due to their good performance. Single and continuous natural fibers have relatively high mechanical properties; especially their young modulus can be as high as glass fibers. Filament winding is a method to produce technically aligned composites which have high fibers content. The properties of filament winding can be tailored to meet the end product requirements. This research studied the compression properties of kenaf/glass fibers hybrid reinforced composites. Kenaf/glass fibers hybrid composite samples were fabricated by filament winding technique and their properties were compared with the properties of neat kenaf fiber and glass fibers composites. The kenaf/glass fiber hybrid composites exhibited higher strength compared to the neat glass fibers composites. Composites of helical pattern, which produced at low winding speed showed better compression resistance than hoop pattern winding, which produced at high winding speed. As predicted, kenaf composite showed highest water absorption; followed by kenaf/glass fiber hybrid composites while neat glass fiber has lowest water absorption capability.