Influence of Fibre Inter-ply Orientation on the Mechanical and Free Vibration Properties of Banana Fibre Reinforced Polyester Composite Laminates

The mechanical properties and vibration damping characteristics of cross-ply laminates ([90°/0°/90°] and [0°/90°/0°]), [0°/45°/0°], four-layered angle ply laminate ([90°/0°]s) and Quasi-isotropic laminates ([0°/90°/45°]s, [0°/45°/90°]s,) containing 50 ± 2 wt% of banana fibres in polyester matrix were investigated. The experimental results indicate that the tensile strength, Young’s modulus, impact strength, and the natural frequency were superior for [0°/90°/0°] laminates. In the case of flexural properties, the Quasi-isotropic laminates displayed better performance than the other configurations. Tensile fractured specimens were examined under a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to understand the difference in failure behavior due to the inter-ply orientation in the laminate.