Abstract

Investigating the novel hybridization of natural and synthetic fibre in developing Fibre Metal Laminate (FML) and producing advanced composite materials is becoming most recent research domain among the material’s scientists and engineers. The thermal stability and functional temperature of the two composites were study. The two composites were fabricated in a mould using a traditional method (hand lay-up) cured at room temperature and post-cured in an oven at 80⁰C for 3 hours. The stability of the composites was obtained by monitoring the weight change as the composite is heated at the constant rate carried out using the standard properties test equipment that includes TGA and DMA machine. The result of the test shows a remarkable increase in the properties in terms of the percentage residue after the composites undergoes TGA, flax composites was 29.75% greater than Kenaf composites in the TGA test. The kenaf composite is 0.5% greater than flax composite storage modulus at a higher-temperature. Conclusively, the composites considered in the study can be used as the component in fire designated zones of automobile and aerospace such as in engine nacelle as compared with only natural fibre and other types of metal/metal alloy.

Key words: Aluminium alloy; epoxy; hybrid composite; natural fibre; synthetic fibre.