Mechanical characterization of short Curauá/glass fiber-reinforced interlaminar hybrid composite adhesive joints

Abstract

This paper presents a study on the mechanical characterization of novel short curauá/glass fibre reinforced interlaminar hybrid composite adhesive joints. The study aims to optimize the performance of these joints by analysing their mechanical properties as a function of the number of external synthetic layers and the architectural symmetry. Short curauá fibres and glass fibre bidirectional fabrics were used with a bi-component epoxy matrix in order to fabricate the hybrid composite adherends. The glass fibre bidirectional fabrics were placed on the outer layers, while the short curauá fibres were used as the core of the hybrid composites. The mechanical properties of the composites used as adherends, including tensile strength, flexural strength, and impact resistance, were determined through mechanical testing. Single lap joints bonded with a structural ductile bi-component epoxy automotive adhesive were fabricated and tested for each case. The results show that the failure mode of the bonded joints is strongly influenced by the composition and configuration of the adherends’ composite layers. It was found that the effect of the number of synthetic layers is highly significant for bonded joint failure load, while no significant variation was observed as a function of architecture symmetry. This study provides valuable insights into the mechanical properties of adhesively bonded joints in hybrid curauá/glass fibre reinforced composites, which can be useful in the design and optimization of these materials for various engineering applications.

Keywords:

• Adhesively bonded joints
• hybrid composites
• mechanical testing
• natural fibres
• synthetic fibres

Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the Brazilian Research Agencies: National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq)-Grant number 311079/2020-2, and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ)-Grant number E-26/211.072/2019 and E-26/202.728/2019. This work was developed within the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, UIDB/50011/2020, UIDP/50011/2020 & LA/P/0006/2020, financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC (PIDDAC).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).