The Effect of Stacking Sequence of Woven Bamboo on Mechanical Behavior of Fiber-Reinforced Composites

Abstract

Natural fiber-reinforced composites are necessary to increase the use of polymer composite technology. This study investigates a specific type of bamboo species named Gigantochloa Scortechinii (Buluh Semantan), collected from the Bukit Larang Village in Melaka, Malaysia. Bamboo strips with average dimensions of 300 mm x 5 mm x 0.5 mm were weaved in plain-woven bamboo and divided into 2 to 6 laminate layers through 6 layers of E-glass epoxy subjected to the hand lay-up process to produce the hybrid composite. The hybrid composites were prepared in a stacking sequence of plain-woven bamboo and were characterized in their mechanical properties. The behaviors of the tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength, flexural modulus, and impact strength improved in the 2-layer laminated hybrid sequences. Still, the opposite trend was observed for the hardness value with the 6-layer laminated mixed sequences. The morphology scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results supported the findings of the mechanical properties, which demonstrated the interaction between the EP and fibers with the selected stacking sequence. The works give sound basis decisions to engineers to apply the Bamboo laminated composites in construction materials and building decoration.