Multi-Objective Optimization and Reliability Assessment of Date Palm Fiber/Sheep Wool Hybrid Polyester Composites
Mohammed Y Abdellah1,2, Ahmed H Backar3, Mohamed K Hassan4
1Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, South Valley University, Qena 83521, Egypt.
Polymers
|October 28, 2025
Summary
This study optimized hybrid composites using date palm fiber (DPF) and sheep wool. The research found that 20% hybrid content offers superior reliability and integrated Weibull analysis with RSM for multi-property optimization.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Composite Materials Engineering
- Sustainable Materials
Background:
- Natural fibers like date palm fiber (DPF) and sheep wool are increasingly explored for sustainable composite materials.
- Developing reliable and high-performance composites requires understanding material variability and optimizing multiple properties simultaneously.
Purpose of the Study:
- To fabricate and characterize hybrid polyester composites incorporating DPF and sheep wool at various loadings.
- To evaluate the reliability of these composites using Weibull analysis.
- To optimize multiple material properties, including mechanical, thermal, and acoustic characteristics, using Response Surface Methodology (RSM).
Main Methods:
- Compression molding was used to fabricate hybrid composites with 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% fiber content.
- Weibull analysis was applied to tensile strength and fracture toughness data to assess material reliability and failure probability.
- RSM was employed to develop predictive models for tensile strength, fracture toughness, thermal conductivity, acoustic attenuation, and water absorption, followed by multi-objective optimization using desirability functions.
Main Results:
- Composites with 20% hybrid content exhibited the highest reliability, indicated by superior scale parameters (β) for tensile strength and fracture toughness.
- RSM optimization identified an optimal fiber content of 18.97% with a desirability index of 0.673, predicting favorable mechanical, thermal, and acoustic properties.
- Integration of Weibull analysis and RSM provided a framework linking probabilistic reliability zones with deterministic multi-property optimization.
Conclusions:
- Hybrid composites of DPF and sheep wool offer a sustainable and reliable material system.
- The combined approach of Weibull analysis and RSM effectively embeds reliability into the multi-property optimization of natural fiber composites.
- This integrated framework facilitates the design of advanced natural fiber composites with tailored performance and reliability.
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