Study on Mechanical Behaviour of Epoxy Composites Reinforced with Sunn Hemp and Ramie Fiber

Composite materials have found extensive applications in many fields such as the medical, aerospace,automotive, and sports industries due to their high strength-to-weight ratio and customizable properties.This project investigates the effect of natural fibers specifically Sunn hemp and Ramie on the mechanicalproperties of laminated composites. Laminates consisting of Sunn hemp and Ramie fibers embedded in anepoxy matrix (LY556) were fabricated using the hand layup techniques as per ASTM standards. Thelaminates were prepared with varying stacking sequences and fiber orientations to evaluate their influenceon mechanical performance. Three different stacking sequences SRSR, RSRS, and SSRR were considered,with fiber orientations of 0/90°, ±45°, and ±60°.The main objective of the study was to determine howstacking sequence and fiber orientation affect tensile strength and Brinell hardness of the composites.Experimental results showed that the SRSR configuration exhibited the highest tensile strength of 52.8MPa. In contrast, the SSRR sequence with ±60° fiber orientation demonstrated the highest Brinellhardness number of 18.08 MPa. These findings confirm that both fiber orientation and stacking sequencesignificantly influence the mechanical behavior of natural fiber-reinforced composites and are criticalparameters for optimizing their performance in practical applications.