Investigation into Dynamic Behavior of Jute-Glass-Aluminium Hybrid Polymer Composites for Automotive Applications

The research work in this paper investigates the development and dynamic characterization of lightweight hybrid polymer composites tailored for automotive applications. Fiber-reinforced polymer composites, owing to their high specific strength and stiffness, have emerged as promising candidates to replace conventional materials. Expanding on the current trend of hybridization that blends natural and synthetic fibers to optimize mechanical strength and vibration-damping behavior, this study incorporates aluminum perforated sheets (Al) as additional reinforcement to increase stiffness without significantly increasing weight. Jute (J) fibers, known for their inherent damping capability, were combined with glass fibers (G) and Al sheets. Six symmetric hybrid laminates G/J/Al/J/G, J/G/Al/G/J, J/J/Al/J/J, G/G/G/Al/G/G/G, and J/J/J/J/J were fabricated using hand lay-up followed by compression molding. The modal frequencies and damping properties were obtained through experimental testing using an FFT analyzer under three different boundary conditions: free–fix, fix–fix, and free–free. Flexural strength was evaluated using the Euler–Bernoulli beam theory. Results revealed that stacking sequence plays a crucial role in governing modal frequencies and damping behavior. Among the tested laminates, the G/J/Al/J/G configuration exhibited superior performance, combining higher flexural modulus with enhanced damping capacity. The findings show that adding aluminum sheets along with fiber hybridization is an effective way to improve both stiffness and vibration resistance, making these hybrid composites well-suited for structural and vibration-sensitive parts in automotive applications.