Impact properties of interwoven hemp/polyethylene terephthalate (PET) hybrid composites

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the impact properties of interwoven hemp/polyethylene terephthalate (PET) hybrid epoxy composites. The effect of hybridisation of hemp with PET fibres on impact properties was studied. The interwoven hemp/PET fabric was fabricated into a composite using a vacuum infusion technique. The impact test was conducted on pendulum impact tester in accordance with the ASTM D6110 standard. Based on the test conducted, results show that the interwoven hemp/PET hybrid composite exhibit 5% higher impact strength than those woven hemp and woven PET epoxy composites. The morphological observation carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) suggested enhancement of impact strength was due to the improved interlocking structure of interwoven hemp/PET hybrid fabric.