Experimental Investigation of Natural/Synthetic Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Composites for Optimum Material Selection Using COPRAS Method

The current study conducts an experimental investigation of material selection for specimens prepared from various percentages of weight of sisal fibers (SFs) as natural fibers and glass fibers (GFs) as synthetic fibers with different stacking sequences and fiber directions to select the optimum material with the lowest density and water absorption content and the highest damping, flexural strength, and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS). Eight laminated composite materials comprised of natural fibers such as sisal fibers and synthetic fibers such as glass fibers are created using the hand layup technique. The material section problem is solved using complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) based on measuring multiple criteria weights using the CRITIC approach. Five competing criteria, including density, water absorption content, damping, flexural strength, and ILSS, are measured to select the optimal laminated composite material. The findings demonstrated that material No. 6 of stacking sequences [RGF/ RGF/BGF/ RGF/BGF/RGF/ RGF]is the best option, whereas material No. 1 of stacking sequences [SF0/SF90/RGF/BGF/RGF/SF90/ SF0]is the worst.