`International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET) Volume 8, Issue 11, November 2017, pp. 467–475, Article ID: IJMET_08_11_050 Available online at http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJMET?Volume=8&Issue=11 ISSN Print: 0976-6340 and ISSN Online: 0976-6359

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TENSILE, FLEXURAL AND IMPACT PROPERTIES OF GLASS FIBRE REINFORCED MATRIX COMPOSITES

Bino Prince Raja D Research Scholar, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education, Kumaracoil, India

Stanly Jones Retnam B Associate Professor, Department of Automobile Engineering, Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education, Kumaracoil, India

Mohini Shukla U.G. Scholar, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, SCT Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India

Likitha Thimmaraju Girijadevi Research Scholar, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, SCT Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India

ABSTRACT The present research work is dedicated on Composite materials as they meet industrial, automobile and household requirements with better mechanical properties compared to the monolithic material which is scarcely available nowadays, that’s the reason all the researchers are eyeing on composite materials. is a type of fiber-reinforced plastic where the reinforcement fiber is specifically glass fiber. The glass fiber may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet (called a chopped strand mat), or woven into a fabric. The plastic matrix may be a thermoset polymer matrix – most often based on thermosetting such as , resin, vinyl ester etc. In this proposal, we have conducted several tests such as tensile test, flexural test and impact test. Tensile strength increased by 19.30% gradually with more percentage of loading of composite and hybrid composite. The flexural Strength increased by14.22 gradually with the more percentage silicon composite hybrid composite. Key words: Tensile, Flexural, Hardness, Impact strength, Glass fiber, Silicon Powder.

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJMET 467 [email protected] Bino Prince Raja D, Stanly Jones Retnam B, Mohini Shukla and Likitha Thimmaraju Girijadevi

Cite this Article: Bino Prince Raja D, Stanly Jones Retnam B, Mohini Shukla and Likitha Thimmaraju Girijadevi, Tensile, Flexural and Impact Properties of Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer Matrix Composites, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology 8(11), 2017, pp. 467–475. http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJMET?Volume=8&Issue=11

1. INTRODUCTION Composite materials are nowadays employed in many engineering structures, such as helicopter and wind turbine rotor blades, boat hulls, and buildings, implying the application of variable loadings for long time spans. This raises the question of their fatigue behaviour, whose importance is increasingly appreciated also in the fixed-wing aircraft industry, where fatigue life has not been a major issue in the past, due to the low working strains used in practical components. Significant efforts have been devoted toward the use of lightweight structures to increase energy efficiencies in various industrial and commercial sectors [13-16]. Fiber-reinforced composites have found numerous applications in aerospace industry for their high specific strength and specific stiffness [17]. However, the cost of traditional composite materials is also considerable. Random chopped fiber-reinforced composites (RFCs) have emerged as promising alternative materials for lightweight structures due to their low cost and mass production capabilities. Their potential application in, for example, the automotive industry has been documented [13, 14, and 16]. In order to expand their use, accurate material characterization is required. The main difficulty in fully exploring the capabilities of the RFCs lies in the apparent impediment to effectively model their geometry at the micro-level for high fibre volume ratios (35-40%). This difficulty becomes even more obvious at high aspect ratio fibres. Glass-fiber-reinforced composites (or glass-fibre reinforced plastics, GFRP) have seen limited use in the building and construction industry for decades [1820]. Because of the need to repair and retrofit rapidly deteriorating infrastructure in recent years, the potential for using fibre-reinforced composites for a wider range of applications is now being realized [21-26]. These materials offer excellent resistance to environmental agents and fatigue as well as the advantages of high stiffness-to-weight and strength-to-weight ratios when compared to conventional construction materials. However, one of the obstacles preventing the extensive use of composites has been a lack of long-term durability and performance data. Although there have been numerous studies of fatigue and environmental fatigue with composite materials in the past three or four decades, most of those devoted to structural composites have focused on aerospace applications. Reviews on the fatigue behaviour for composite materials can be found in the literature [27-30]. Mechanical properties of fibre-reinforced composites are depending on the properties of the constituent materials (type, quantity, fibre distribution and orientation, void content). Beside those properties, the nature of the interfacial bonds and the mechanisms of load transfer at the interphase also play an important role. If the building parts of composites differ in physical form and in chemical composition either, only a weak interaction can be developed at the interface. For improving the adhesion between the matrix and the fibres, there are varieties of modification technique depending on the fibre and matrices type. The reported studies on short fibre reinforced composites by different investigators are found to have focused mostly on the strength properties of the composites. Beyerlein et al. [31] have described the influence of fiber shape in short fiber composites. Kari et al. [32] have evaluated numerically the effective material properties of composites with randomly distributed short fibers. Hine et al. [33] have presented a numerical simulation of the effects of fiber length distribution on the elastic and thermoelastic properties of short fiber composites. Fu et al. [34]

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJMET 468 [email protected] Tensile, Flexural and Impact Properties of Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer Matrix Composites have studied the flexural properties of misaligned short fiber reinforced polymers by taking into account the effects of fiber length and fiber orientation. Recently, efforts to reduce the weight of automobiles by the increased use of plastics and their composites, have led to a growing penetration of short-fibre-reinforced injection-moulded thermoplastics into fatigue- sensitive applications [35, 36]. In general, short-fibre/polymer matrix composites are much less resistant to fatigue damage than the corresponding continuous-fibre-rein- forced materials, mainly because the weak matrix has to sustain a greater proportion of the cyclic load [37]. Chopped strand mat (CSM) glass fibre-reinforced polyester (GRP) is widely used in pressure vessel and pipe line systems for the chemical industry. Glass mat thermoplastics (GMTs) are being increasingly used in the automotive industry due to advantages such as low weight, ease of processing, price and noise suppression [38]. The hot stamping of glass-mat- reinforced thermoplastics, GMT, is of great interest to the automotive industry [39-44]. Few researches have been done on chopped glass fiber reinforced polymer composites. Durability based design criteria for a chopped glass fiber automotive structural composite has been studied by Corum et al. [45]. Interlaminar shear fracture of chopped strand mat glass fibre reinforced polyester laminates has been studied by Zhang et al. [46]. Monotonic and tension- tension fatigue tests were carried out on E-glass chopped-strand mat/polyester composites, varying the flexibility content by weight in the matrix in the range 0-30% [47]. In a previous paper [48], the static and fatigue behaviour of a with different proportions of flexibility was analysed. In this work, the same resin system considered was used to fabricate four chopped-strand mat/polyester (CSM) composites, which were subjected to monotonic and repeated-tension fatigue tests. The fibre volume fraction was kept low, to highlight the role played by the matrix in the mechanical response of the composite.

2. MATERIALS USED FOR FABRICATION The materials used in the present experiment are epoxy resin, Glass fiber, Silicon. Densities of above mentioned materials are 1.19 g/cm3, 1.15 g/cm3, 2.32 g/cm3 respectively.

Table 1 Materials Used In the Fabrication of Composite Sl. No Materials Sample Dimensions (mm) 1 Mould made of Wooden pattern 300X 200 X 10 2 Beadings 20 X 320 X 5 3 Mylar sheet 310 X 210 X 5 4 Weighing machine 0.2g to 3kg capacity 5 Plastic container 5 liter capacity 6 Concrete block 30 kg weight

3. PREPARATION OF MATERIAL AND METHODOLOGY The method implemented in the fabrication of glass fiber and silicon / epoxy composite is Hand Layup procedure and is a closed molding technique done manually. Glass fiber is available readily and is used as it is and is not modified. Weight fractions of glass fiber is kept constant and by varying percentage weight of silicon added to the matrix material that is 0%, 1.0%, 13.0%, 5.0%,7.0% are three samples were cut to the required ASTM standard. Mechanical tests conducted on the specimen to know the tensile strength of tensile specimen. Cut the Mylar sheet according to Mold size and place it on the Mold. According to calculation pour the resin into the mug. According to the percentage of volume required the calculated amount of rice husk is mixed into the weighted resin. Stir well for about two

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJMET 469 [email protected] Bino Prince Raja D, Stanly Jones Retnam B, Mohini Shukla and Likitha Thimmaraju Girijadevi minute in clockwise and alternatively anticlockwise to mix the content thoroughly. Then add hardeners i.e. 1.10 ratio depending of volume fraction.Once it is mixed thoroughly now it is ready to lay on the mold. Pour the mixer continuously over the mold apply little pressure using plates to fill the mixer all along the mold. Wait for a minute and apply pressure using hand rollers to remove air bubbles and to maintain uniqueness in the laminate. Once the layup is over put Mylar sheet on it to avoid sticking of specimen onto the male portion of the mold and put heavy weight on the specimen and leave it for curing. Approximately after 24 hour at room temperature the laminate is ready for cutting operation .the specimen is cut to the desired size and taken for testing. 4. PROCESSING TECHNIQUE The hand lay-up technique is the simplest and the most commonly used method for the manufacture of both small and large reinforced products. A flat surface, a cavity (female) or a positive (male) – shaped mold, made from wood, metal, plastics, reinforced plastics, or a combination of these materials may be used. Fiber reinforcements and resin are placed manually against the mold surface. Thickness is controlled by the layers of materials placed against the mold. This technique, also called contact lay-up, is an open mold method of molding thermosetting resins in association with fibers. A chemical reaction initiated in the resin by a catalytic agent causes hardening to a finished part. The mould made up of wood of size 300mm X150mm X5mm. To mix the resin and silicon by using plastic container and a wooden stick used for constant stirring. After molding process it is allowed to cure to 48 hour, than is cut according ASTM standard.

ASTM STANDARDS FOR TESTING OF SPECIMEN Composite laminate of 300 mm X 200 mm X 5 mm were fabricated according to ASTM standards for mechanical tests. 1. Density of Vinyl ester (δ) = 1.15 g/cm3 2. Volume of the mold (V) = 300x110 x5mm = 165000mm3 = 165cm3 3. Mass of resin (m) = Volume of mold x Density of resin = 165cm3 x 1.15g/cm3 = 190g

Figure 1 Tensile test specimen 100% epoxy Figure 2 Flexural test specimen 100% epoxy resin (250mmX25mmX5mm) resin (200mmX15mmX5mm) Composite materials were subjected to various mechanical tests to measure strength, elastic constants, and other material properties. The results of such tests were used for two primary purposes: 1) engineering design and 2) quality control either by the materials producer to verify the process or by the end user to confirm the material specifications. A Universal Testing Machine (UTM) is an instrument used for the measurement of loads and the associated test specimen deflections such as those encountered in tensile, compression or

http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJMET 470 [email protected] Tensile, Flexural and Impact Properties of Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer Matrix Composites flexural modes. Specimen dimension for impact test was 60 mm × 15 mm. Impact testing was conducted in impact testing machine. Fabricated composite was cut in dimension of 20 mm × 20 mm for hardness test. The hardness test was conducted in Vickers hardness test machine. The load was applied 0.3 kgf on the composite and the holding time was 10 second.

5. RESULT AND DISCUSSION Tensile test was conducted for coconut coir/ banana fiber/ / epoxy specimens using 10 tonne capacity Universal testing machine. Table below lists the UTS of coconut coir/ banana fiber / epoxy.

5.1. Tensile Strength

Table 2Ultimate tensile strength of glass fiber/ silicon / Epoxy resin composite

Avg UTS Samples Glass fiber (%) Silicon (%) Ultimate Tensile Strength (MPa) Mpa A 15 0 32.36 31.28 28.42 30.69 B 15 3 32.88 33.8 33.78 33.49 C 15 5 35.28 35.98 36.82 36.03 D 15 7 38.08 37.78 38.22 38.03 E 15 9 31.08 32.22 32.8 32.03

This table shows the shows the tensile strength of glass fiber and silicon composite. the tensile strength of sample A(100 % Epoxy composite) is 30.69 Mpa it increases to maximum to sample D (15gm glass fiber +7% silicon) is 38.03Mpa than in decreases at sample E(15gm glass fiber +7% silicon ) is32.03Mpa. 40.00 35.00 30.00 25.00 20.00 15.00

10.00 ultimate tensileultimate strength in Mpa in strength 5.00 0.00 A B C D E % wt of glass fiber and silicon fiber

Figure 3 Ultimate Tensile Strength (MPa)

Table 3 Ultimate tensile Strength of glass fiber / silicon composite at different percentage loading ULTIMATE TENSILE STRENGTH SAMPLE RESULTS Glass fiber% Silicon Avg.UTS MPa A 0 0 30.69 Tensile strength increases B 15 1 33.49 by8.36% Tensile strength increases by C 15 3 36.03 7.04%

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Tensile strength increases D 15 5 38.03 by5.25 % Tensile strength decreases E 15 7 32.03 by18.34% The above table clearly shows the tensile strength increases by adding silicon from 1%, 3% and 5%. than it decreases at 7% silicon.

5.2 Flexural Strength The table below shows the flexural strength of glass fiber and silicon composite. the flexural strength of sample A(100 % Epoxy composite) is 83 Mpa it increases to maximum to sample D(15 gm glass fiber +5% silicon) is 88.37Mpa than in decreases at sample E(15 gm glass fiber +5% silicon) is 83.39 Mpa.

Table 4 Ultimate flexural strength of glass fiber / silicon / Epoxy

Avg flexural Samples Glass fiber (%) Silicon (%) Ultimate flexural Strength (MPa) Mpa A 15 0 75 76.4 76.4 75.93 B 15 1 82 83 84 83.00 C 15 3 85.6 86.4 85.2 85.73 D 15 5 87.8 88.6 88.7 88.37 E 15 7 82.88 83.48 83.8 83.39

90.00 88.00 86.00 84.00 82.00 80.00 78.00 76.00 74.00

ultimate flexural strength Mpa strength flexural ultimate 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 % WT of glass fiber and silicon

Figure 4 Ultimate flexural Strength of glass fiber / silicon composite at different percentage loading

5.3. Impact Strength

Table 5 Impact strength of glass fiber/ silicon / Epoxy resin composite

Samples Glass fiber (%) Silicon (%) Impact Strength (J) Avg IS in J A 15 0 1.4 1.46 1.46 1.44 B 15 3 1.68 1.68 1.66 1.67 C 15 5 2.12 2.1 2.12 2.11 D 15 7 2.6 2.62 2.68 2.63 E 15 9 2.22 2.24 2.26 2.24

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A B C D

Impact strength J strength Impact E

% weight of glass fiber and silicon

Figure 5 Impact Strength vs % Weight of glass fiber and silicon

Table 6 Impact strength IMPACT STRENGTH SAMPLES RESULTS Glass fiber % Silicon% Impact strength A 0 0 1.44 13.77 B 15 1 1.67 20.85 C 15 3 2.11 22.71 D 15 5 2.63 -17.41 E 15 7 2.07 13.77

6. CONCLUSIONS The conclusion of the study of glass fiber & silicon reinforced epoxy resin composite is that there is significant increase in the tensile and flexural strength of the composite. Tensile strength increased by 19.30% gradually with more percentage of loading of Silicon composite and hybrid composite. • The flexural Strength increased by14.22 gradually with the more percentage silicon composite hybrid composite. • To have better mechanical properties at higher silicon content, the bonding between glass fiber/ silicon and epoxy resin must improve. • To increase the mechanical properties of the composite there must be homogenous mixture of the silicon and matrix to have the property of the composite. • Hybridization has been successfully found to be better option to have better mechanical property which alone a glass fiber fails. REFERENCES

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