Manufacturing and properties of cotton and jute fabrics reinforced epoxy and PLA composites

This paper studies the effects of plain-woven fabrics of jute and cotton, used as reinforcements, on the mechanical properties of composite panels prepared using epoxy and polylactic acid (PLA) resins as matrix materials. Two different composites were prepared in the current study - natural fiber fabrics reinforced thermosetting epoxy resin and the same fabrics reinforced thermoplastic PLA resin. Two methods were used to manufacture these composites. The thermosetting composites were manufactured by impregnating the epoxy resin with the fabrics by hand lamination. On the other hand, the resin film method was used to manufacture the thermoplastic composites. Tensile, compression and 3-point bending tests were performed on the composite panels. The experimental results indicated that the compressive strengths of cotton/PLA and cotton/epoxy composites are approximately equivalent. The jute-based composites exhibited brittle failure in the tensile test. Furthermore, the 3-point-bending break strength of the cotton/PLA composites was higher than that of the jute/PLA composites.