Mechanical Performance of Biofiber/Glass-reinforced Epoxy Hybrid Composites

The degree of mechanical reinforcement that can be obtained by the introduction of glass fibers in biofiber (silk fabric)-reinforced epoxy composites has been assessed experimentally. The addition of a relatively small amount of glass fabric to the silk fabric reinforced epoxy matrix enhances the mechanical properties of the resulting hybrid composites. It has also been observed that the properties increase with the increase in the weight fraction of reinforcement content to the maximum extent. The water uptakes of hybrid composites are observed to be less than that of unhybridized composites.