Enhancing mechanical and physical performance of PALF-glass hybrid composites: A comparative study of Al2O3 & TiO2 fillers reinforcement

The growing demand for sustainable engineering materials has increased interest in hybrid natural-synthetic fiber composites. This investigation examined the mechanical and physical properties of a hybrid composite of pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) and glass fiber, fabricated by hand lay-up, reinforced with ceramic fillers (Al 2 O 3 , TiO 2 ) within an epoxy matrix. Two symmetric layer system, PALF-glass-PALF (PGP) and glass-PALF-glass (GPG), were designed. Results show that TiO₂-filled GPG composites achieved the highest tensile strength of 72.76 MPa, representing an improvement of 9.15% over non-filled composites, along with an increased flexural modulus of 8.15 GPa. In the PGP configuration, TiO₂ significantly enhanced impact strength to 46.56 kJ/m², compared to 16.46 kJ/m² for non-filled laminates. Alumina-filled systems exhibited reduced void content of 1.4% and 2.093% for PGP and GPG respectively and improved flexural strength up to 134.03 MPa in GPG. However, increased brittleness and stress concentration were observed in these systems. Overall, the study shows that combining PALF, glass fiber, and ceramic fillers can produce lightweight composites with improved strength, stiffness, durability, and environmental resistance. This work presents a comparative analysis of filler reinforcement mechanisms in PALF based hybrid composites.