1. Introduction
Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymers (GFRPs) is a fiber reinforced
polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced by fine fibers of glass.
Fiber glass is a lightweight, strong, and robust material used in different
industries due to their excellent properties. Although
strength properties are somewhat lower than carbon fiber and it
is less stiff, the material is typically far less brittle, and the raw
materials are much less expensive [1]. Its bulk strength and weight
properties are very favorable when compared to metals, and it can
be easily formed using molding processes [2]. Now a days natural
fibers such as sisal and jute fiber composite materials are replacing
the glass and carbon fibers owing to their easy availability and cost
[3]. The use of natural fibers is improved remarkably due to the fact
that the field of application is improved day by day especially in
automotive industries. Several researches have been taken place
in this direction. Silva et al. [4] have developed the natural
fibers/castor oil polyurethane composites and tested the fracture
toughness. They have achieved the best fracture toughness performance
for sisal fiber composites. The thermophysical properties of
natural fiber reinforced polyester composites is carried out by Idicula et al. [5]. They have indicated that the natural fiber with
glass allows a significantly better heat transport ability for the
composites. Cicala et al. [6] have studied the properties and performance
of various hybrid glass/natural fiber composites for the
applications in curved pipes. Natural fibers are lighter and cheaper,
but they have low mechanical properties than glass fibers. The use
of hybrid fibers may solve this issue.
Most of the studies on natural fibers are concerned with single
reinforcement. The addition of natural fiber to the glass fiber can
make the composite hybrid which is comparatively cheaper and
easy to use.
Panthapulakkal and Sain [7] studied the mechanical and thermal
properties of hemp/glass fiber–polypropylene (PP) composite
materials. They have observed that the use of hybrid composite
material enhance the flexural and impact properties. In addition
they have observed that the addition of glass fiber into hemp–PP
composites resulted in improved thermal properties as well as
the water resistance of the composites.
Arbelaiz et al. [8] have developed flax fiber/polypropylene composites
and studied the influence of fiber/matrix modification and
glass fiber hybridization. They have reported that the tensile
strength and modulus of hybrid glass/flax–PP composites depend
on the glass/flax ratio. Thwe and Liao [9] have studied the durability
of bamboo/glass fiber reinforced polymer matrix hybrid composites.
They have studied the properties such as tensile strength
and elastic modulus of bamboo fiber reinforced polypropylene