Establishment, Description and Equivalence of Flax Fabric Reinforced and E-Glass Fabric Reinforced Polyester Based Composite

Every fabric can be categorized as either synthetic or natural fibre. Both natural and synthetic fibre have both advantages and disadvantages. Natural fibres are extracted from various plants and animals’ sources, while synthetic fibres are made from chemical compounds which requires enormous amount of non- renewable energy sources. Comparing with the flax fabric, glass fibre mats are made from silica (SiO2) sand, which melts at 1720°C/3128°F. Glass fibre mat requires burning enormous of fossil fuel for producing heat, whereas flax fabric is extracted from the bast or the skin of linseed plant that grow inside stalks of the plants. Flax fabric is hydrophilic in nature, which by the mercerization process is converted to hydrophobic in nature. In Mercerization process fabric is treated with a caustic soda (NaOH) solution in water to improve properties such as fibre strength, shrink- age resistance, lustre, and dye affinity. The composites manufacturing process known as Hand layup involves laying down individual reinforced fabric of glass and flax separately and then wet with isophthalic resin (mixed with 2% of charcoal) by measuring the quantity by weighing. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis, provides evaluating of glass and flax reinforced composites for surface fractures, flaws, contaminants or corrosion. In order to check the flame resistance fire retardant test is done. Furthermore, mechanical test result showed the comparative values of tensile, impact and flexural strength of both the composites.