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This paper gives a review on the sandwich composite and its advancements. In recent years, a large number of researches and advances have been carried out in the field of sandwich composite. Many new innovations are being produced successfully in this field. This is one of the most rapid and emerging technology in the recent years. Introduction of this technology has replaced the use of monolithic materials in several applications.

Nowadays natural fiber composites are replacing the conventional materials by their superior properties. They have less weight to strength ratio, biodegradability, ruse, and are readily available. This chapter summarizes the mechanical properties of the mono fiber and hybrid composites fabricated from some of the commonly available natural fibers such as Banana, Jute, Sisal, kenaf, abaca, ramie, pineapple, coir, jute, manila, raffia, hemp, flax, Boehmeria nivea, basalt, and neem. It also narrates the consequence of fiber orientation, layer arrangement, and twist on the mechanical behavior of hybrid fiber composites. The summary of the discussion shows that hybrid fiber composites exhibit superior mechanical properties than mono fiber composites. Also, fiber orientation has its own influence on mechanical behavior. Moreover, twisted fiber composites give better mechanical behavior than untwisted fiber composites.

Advancement in Science and technology over the past decade has made the human society to venture into using hybrid materials for variety of applications. Natural fiber composite materials are one among those new emerging engineering materials. These materials are finding increased usage due to their low cost and eco-friendly nature. This paper deals with the fabrication and characterization of abaca, flax based hybrid composite. The properties of hybrid composites are compared to the composite containing any one of the constitutional fibers of hybrid composite. The characterisation is based on behaviour of composite under various mechanical testing. The tests include double shear strength and Hardness. The inner filament brakeage and crack propagation are studied using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).

In the present scenario, composites are beginning to play a major role in day to day applications. Suitable properties can be imparted by selection or orientation of fibers during the manufacturing process. This paper demonstrates the natural composites made up of Manila as reinforcing agent with epoxy resin as matrix enclosed between glass fibers. Glass fibers, also known as woven rovings, are used to improve the surface finish and provide better strength and rigidity to the composite. Using hand lay-up method, fibers of Manila are arranged in alternate layers. The strength of composites depends on the fiber-matrix interfacial bonding. Three composite samples are prepared and mechanical stability of the composite is determined by tensile test. It is seen that there is not much variation in the ultimate strength of the three samples. On an average, it is found that average break load of the composite is 4.8 KN and the corresponding displacement is 9.08 mm. All the three samples exhibit almost similar elongation of about 18 % and the average ultimate tensile strength is 31.66 MPa. The reason for uniform tensile properties is due to a homogeneous distribution of fibers in all the three samples.

Recent growth in the field of engineering demands specialised composite materials to meet various industrial needs. Composite materials are emerging as the most promising new materials. This paper deals with the fabrication and analysis of flexural characteristics of flax and Abaca hybrid epoxy composite. The show that GFRP + Flax +Abaca based hybrid composite has a higher ultimate stress which is much greater than GFRP + Flax composite and GFRP + Abaca composites. The inner filament breakage and crack propagation are studied using scanning electron microscope.

Bio-fibre composites are increasingly replacing conventional and synthetic composite materials for the past two decades. This is due to their abundant availability, high strength to weight ratio and bio-degradability. Suitable properties of natural fibres can be imparted by changing the orientation of the fibres during manufacturing process. This paper proposes a hybrid property of natural fibre composite made up of Manila and abaca fibres as reinforcing agents with epoxy resin as matrix .Hand lay-up process is used for manufacturing this composite laminate. Then the treated fibres with increased strength are used with epoxy LY556 resin with HY951 hardener under room temperature. Three different samples are prepared and their mechanical properties like impact and flexural strength are found. This hybrid composite is effectively developed for automobile and electrical applications.

Nowadays composite materials play a vital role in automotive and aerospace industries due to their important properties like high strength to weight ratio, biodegradability and ease of production. In this paper, compression and hardness properties of a hybrid composite made of manila and abaca fibers are evaluated. Hand layup process is used in this work. The result shows that hybrid composite possesses very high strength and hardness as compared to mono fibre composite.

Composites made with natural fibers are finding applications in a wide variety of engineering fields due to their low cost and eco-friendly nature. This paper deals with the fabrication and evaluation of hybrid natural fiber composite using jute and abaca fibers along with glass fibers. Each composite is made up of five layers with three layers of jute and abaca enclosed by two layers of glass fibers. The composites are manufactured with three different fiber orientations and the compositions are varied in three different proportions. The fabricated composite samples are tested to investigate their various mechanical properties. From the test results, it is observed that fiber orientation plays a vital role in determining the mechanical properties of the composite. Morphological analysis is done using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).

The Natural fiber composites form a combination of plant derived fibers with plastic binders (Polymer matrices). The fibers form the fillers or reinforcements of the composite and the matrix is the continuous phase. In general, fibers are principal load carrying members while the surrounding matrix keeps them in the desired position, acts as a load transfer medium between them. So fibers with good strength and modulus and having good bonding with matrix should be used to a produce a good quality composite material [1-3]. The mechanical efficiency of a fiber composite depends on the adhesion between the matrix and the reinforcement [4-7]. This paper is to evaluate impact and compression properties of pineapple fiber based reinforced composite with epoxy resin as matrix.

The interest in natural fibers has been rising in the past decade due to low cost and abundant availability. Though the composites made from artificial fibers possess superior properties when compared to natural fiber reinforced composites, their high cost makes it unviable in day-to-day applications. This paper is an evaluation of a pineapple fiber reinforced composite using epoxy resin as matrix. Glass fibers are provided as the outer layers to improve the surface finish and strength. Using hand lay-up method, fibers of pineapple are assembled in alternate layers of vertical and horizontal orientation. The flexural properties of the composite are determined. Three samples are tested and it is seen that there is no appreciable variation in the properties. The average break load is 1.29 KN and the deflection is 5.533 mm. The flexural strength is calculated as 78.63MPa.

Natural fibre composites are a class of materials which are currently replacing the synthetic fibre composites for practical applications. This paper deals with the fabrication and investigation of hybrid natural fibre composites and compares it with other normal natural fibre composites like abaca and jute as reinforcements used separately. Mechanical characterization of the natural composite is obtained by testing the composite lamina for tensile, flexural, shear, and impact strength. The structure of the composite is such that, the jute fibre is present at the center flanked by abaca fibre on both sides. Glass fibre is used to laminate the composite on top and bottom, which improves the surface finish and adds strength. The natural fibres are arranged in horizontal and vertical directions to provide strength on all sides. The composite is manufactured by hand layup process and volume fraction of the fibres is up to 0.40. It is found that the abaca–jute hybrid composite has better properties than the abaca fibre alone in tensile and shear. However the abaca composite is superior to hybrid composite in flexural and impact strength. The internal structure of the composite is observed under scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the fractures, voids and fibre delamination are analyzed.

The natural fibre composite materials are nowadays playing a vital role in replacing the conventional and synthetic materials for industrial applications. This paper proposes a natural fiber composite made of Abaca fibre as reinforcing agent with Epoxy resin as the matrix, manufactured using Hand Lay-up method. Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastics (woven rovings) are used to improve the surface finish and impart more strength and stiffness to natural fibers. In this work, the fibers are arranged in alternative layers of abaca in horizontal and vertical orientation. The mechanical properties of the composite are determined by testing the samples for tensile and flexural strength. It is observed that the tensile strength of the composite material is dependent on the strength of the natural fiber and also on the interfacial adhesion between the reinforcement and the matrix. The composite is developed for automobile dashboard/mudguard application. It may also be extended to biomedical, electronics and sports goods manufacturing. It can also be used in marine products due to excellent resistance of abaca to salt water damage since the tensile strength when it is wet.

Present technology development in the area of materials replaces the conventional materials used in automobile and aerospace sector by composite materials due their less weight and bio degradability. This paper aims to fabricate and investigate the mechanical properties of abaca-raffia hybrid composite fabricated by hand layup process. Since, abaca fiber has more strength than other fibers like kenaf, banana and sisal, the composite with this fiber can be suitable replacement material for automotive applications.The properties like double shear and hardnessare evaluated andthe result shows that the double shear properties and hardness of the hybrid composites [GFRP+Abaca+Raffia] is higher than other two combinations. The internal microstructure of the hybrid composites were analysed using Scanning electron microscope (SEM).

In recent years, both industrial and academic world are focussing their attention toward the development of sustainable composites, reinforced with natural fibres. In this present work, the tensile behaviour of basalt fiber composites were investigated. The manufacturing of the composite is done by hand lay method. Morphological analysis were done by scanning electron microscopy. The objective was to study the effect of surface modifications and mechanical properties when tensile test and hardness test was performed on the fibre. It results showed increase in strength of composite 3 when compared to the other two composites 1, 2.

The purpose of a solar tracker is to get optimum level of energy it can from the solar energy available which is abundant. In this paper an attempt has been made to find out the most suitable solar tracking system for which the maximum utilization of solar energy is possible. This paper uses a multi criteria decision making (MCDM) model namely Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) to determine the best possible solar tracking mechanism to achieve the optimum results for obtaining maximum solar energy from four main methods of solar tracking systems namely Active tracker, Passive tracker, Chronological tracker and Manual tracking. The four main criteria considered in this paper are response, Accuracy, Repeatability and reliability.