Mechanical and structural properties of polyester hybrid composites reinforced with stem fiber particulates

Mechanical and structural properties of polyester hybrid composites reinforced with Entada mannii and yam stem particulates were investigated. Entada mannii and yam stem particulate of varied weight fractions were used to reinforce polyester resin using the hand lay-up method. It further evaluates the mechanical behaviour such as hardness, impact strength, flexural and tensile properties. The fracture surface of the composite was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was observed that the tensile strength, hardness, and flexural properties of all the fabricated composites progressively increased as the particulates’ loading increased. Specifically, tensile strength, hardness, and flexural properties of hybrid composites D (7.5wt.% Entada mannii and 2.5wt.% yam stem particulates) were enhanced by 63%, 49%, and 51% respectively in comparison with control polyester. These improvements could be attributed to well cementing and mechanical interlocking of particulates with the matrix interface. The impact properties for the hybrid composites D (7.5 wt.% of Entada mannii and 2.5wt.%Yam stem) gave the highest value of 10.3 kJ/m 2 and increased by 51% in comparison with the control polyester. The hybrid composites’ fracture surface morphology revealed the homogeneous dispersion of particulates in the polyester matrix while the single reinforcement was characterized by agglomeration of particulates and matrix yielding.