The Effect of Various Textile Wastes on the Mechanical Properties of Composite Materials

Abstract

As technology advances and people's needs rise, the amount of waste produced rises in tandem with increased productivity in every industry. In this study, mechanical properties of hybrid composite structures made from recycled textile waste (denim waste, human hair, and pantyhose waste) are compared to those of an E-glass plain-woven fabric reinforced composite structure (Charpy impact strength, drop-weight impact strength, tensile strength, and flexural strength). The vacuum-assisted resin transfer method is employed as the production method, with epoxy resin as the chosen matrix material. Except for tensile strength, the obtained results suggest that the mechanical properties of textile waste and E-glass fabric reinforced hybrid composite constructions can compete with those of pure E-glass fabric reinforced sample.