Effects of Ply Orientations and Stacking Sequences on Impact Response of Pineapple Leaf Fibre (PALF)/Carbon Hybrid Laminate Composites

Mohd Khairul Rabani Hashim; Mohd Shukry Abdul Majid; Mohd Ridzuan Mohd Jamir; Farizul Hafiz Kasim; Hassan A Alshahrani; Mohd Azaman Md Deros; David Hui

doi:10.3390/ma15176121

Effects of Ply Orientations and Stacking Sequences on Impact Response of Pineapple Leaf Fibre (PALF)/Carbon Hybrid Laminate Composites

Materials (Basel). 2022 Sep 3;15(17):6121. doi: 10.3390/ma15176121.

Authors

Mohd Khairul Rabani Hashim¹, Mohd Shukry Abdul Majid¹, Mohd Ridzuan Mohd Jamir¹, Farizul Hafiz Kasim², Hassan A Alshahrani³, Mohd Azaman Md Deros¹, David Hui⁴

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Arau 02600, Perlis, Malaysia.
² Faculty of Chemical Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Arau 02600, Perlis, Malaysia.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Najran University, Najran 61441, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148, USA.

Abstract

This study investigated the impact response behaviours of pineapple leaf fibre (PALF)/carbon hybrid laminate composites for different ply orientations and stacking sequences. The laminates were manufactured using a vacuum infusion approach with various stacking sequences and ply orientations classified as symmetric quasi-isotropic, angle-ply symmetric, and cross-ply symmetric. The laminates were analysed using an IMATEK IM10 drop weight impact tester with an increment of 5 J until the samples were perforated. This investigation reveals that the overall impact properties of PALF and carbon as reinforcements were improved by a beneficial hybridised effect. The laminates with an exterior carbon layer can withstand high impact energy levels up to 27.5 J. The laminate with different stacking sequences had a lower energy transfer rate and ruptured at higher impact energy. The laminates with ply orientations of [0°/90°] and [±45°]₈ exhibited 10% to 30% better energy absorption than those with ply orientations of [±45°₂, 0°/90°₂]_s and [0°/90°₂, ±45°₂]_s due to energy being readily transferred within the same linear ply orientation. Through visual inspection, delamination was observed to occur at the interfaces of different stacking sequences and ply orientations.

Keywords: PALF; hybrid composite; impact response; ply orientation; stacking sequences.

Grants and funding

The author would like to acknowledge the support from the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) under a grant number of (Ref: FRGS/1/2019/TK03/UNIMAP/02/4) from the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia.