Optimization of mechanical properties of polyester hybrid composite laminate using Taguchi methodology - Part 1

This study focuses on the processing, analysis and optimization of parameters for mechanical properties (flexural and tensile) of multiphase hybrid composite consisting of bi-axial glass and jute mats reinforced polyester composites. An attempt is made to identify the main factors that affect the responses. The seven factors considered were presence of silicon carbide, percentage of NaOH used for alkali treatment of jute fibers, oven curing time for composites, stacking sequence of jute and glass fibers mat, hardener percentage in 50mL resin, oven temperature and mixing time. The test specimens were prepared and tested according to ASTM standards. Taguchi design was used for design of experiments and experimental results were analyzed using ANOVA. The results revealed that for flexural strength the significant factors were stacking sequence and silicon carbide with p-values of 0.002 and 0.005 for mean analysis, respectively. Stacking sequence, silicon carbide and hardener percentage in 50mL resin were found as significant factors with p-values of 0.010, 0.014 and 0.017 for tensile strength, respectively. These responses were further optimized for 95% confidence level. Further confirmatory test were carried out with optimum level parameters and results obtained were compared with estimated S/N ratio, which were within +/- 5%.