High performance short jute fibre preforms for thermoset composite applications

Jute fibre reinforced composites (JFRCs) are facing challenges to composite manufacturers due to the high cost of dry fibre preforming and inferior fibre performance compared to other commonly used natural plant fibres such as flax, sisal, hemp, and kenaf. Therefore, long fibre architecture jute fibre preforms often cannot fulfil the performance requirement of the composites. Using shorter length of jute fibres and then transform them into dry preforming sheet can ideally be used in manufacturing intricate composite products with low processing cost and high fibre reinforcing effect. On the other hand, short jute fibres suffer with extremely low fibre content and hence, they are difficult to use in making complex shape composite structures. In this work, a highly individualised and…