Determination of Mechanical Properties of Hybrid Composite

Abstract

Manufacturing of composite laminates is the peculiar member of science that encounter its immense utilization in various industrial areas such as sporting, automotive, aerospace and marine industries. The superior properties of composites such as stiffness, better mechanical properties, low density, and lightweight make it a candidate in engineering applications. The continuous research in this area is due to the need for seeking alternative materials with increased performance. In this report, the basalt fiber E-glass reinforced composite mechanical properties has investigated. The basalt fiber E-glass composite was formulated with hand layup moulding technique. Mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural strength and impact strength of the basalt fiber E-glass composite have been analysed.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

Fibres can be generally defined as thread-like structures that are thin, long, and  flexible. The three main sources of fibres are plants,animals and minerals. Fibers are classified by their chemical  origin, falling into two groups or families: natural fibers and manufactured fibers. Manufactured fibers are also referred to as manmade or synthetic fibers.

Fiber composites are engineered materials made of a composite matrix material, typically a polymer or resin, that is reinforced with fibers. These fibers can be made from natural materials such as wood or flax, or synthetic materials such as carbon or fiberglass. The addition of the fibers to the matrix material can improve the strength, stiffness, and other physical properties of the material. Fiber composites can be used in a variety of industrial and consumer applications, including aerospace, automotive, construction, and sports equipment [1].

Natural fibers are those that occur in fiber form in nature. Traditionally, natural fiber sources are broken down into animal, plant, or mineral. Fibers from plant or vegetable sources are more properly referred to as cellulose-based and can be further classified by plant source. Except for silk, all-natural cellulose- and protein-based fibers are obtained in short lengths and are called staple fibers. Silk is a continuous filament fiber.

A. Overview Of Composites

Over the last thirty years composite materials, plastics and comics have the dominant emerging materials. The volume and number of application of composite materials have groups steadily, penetrating and conquering new markets relentlessly. Modern composite materials constitute a significant proportion of the engineered materials market ranging from everyday products to sophisticated niche applications.While composites have already proven their worth as weight-saving materials, the current challenge is to make them cost effective.

The efforts to produce economically attractive composite components have resulted in several innovative manufacturing techniques currently being used in the composites industry. It is obvious. especially for composites, that the improvement, in manufacturing technology alone enough to overcome the cost hurdle.

 It is essential that there be an integrated effort in design, material, process, tooling, quality assurance, manufacturing, and even program management for composites to become competitive with metals. The composites industry has begun to recognize that the commercial applications of composites promise to offer much larger business opportunities than the aerospace sector due to the sheer size of transportation industry. Thus the shift of composite applications from aircraft to other commercial uses has become prominent is recent years.

The increased volume has resulted in an expected reduction in costs. High performance can now be found in such diverse applications as composite armoring designed to resist explosive impacts, fuel cylinders for natural gas vehicles, windmill blades, industrial drive shafts, support beams of highway bridges and even paper making rollers. For certain applications, the use of composites rather than metals has in fact resulted in savings of both cost and weight. Some examples are cascades for engines, curved fairing and fillets, replacements for welded metallic parts, cylinders, tubes, ducts blade containment bands etc. Further, the need of composite for lighter construction materials and more seismic resistant structures has placed high emphasis on the use of new and advanced materials that not only decreases dead weight but also absorbs the shock & vibration through tailored microstructures.

Composites are now extensively being used for rehabilitation strengthening of pre-existing structures that have to be retrofitted to make them seismic resistant, or to repair damage caused by seismic activity. Unlike conventional materials (e.g., steel), the properties of the composite material can be designed considering the structural aspects. A composite material consists of two or more physically and/or chemically distinct, suitably arranged or distributed phases, with an interface separating them.

It has characteristics that are not depicted by any of the components in isolation. Most commonly, composite materials have a bulk phase, which is continuous, called the matrix, and one dispersed, non-continuous, phase called the reinforcement, which is usually harder and stronger. The function of individual components has been described.

1. E-glass Fiber

E-glass fiber, one of the most commonly used glass fibers in the fiberglass industry, is made from alumino-borosilicate glass with less than 1% w/w alkali oxides. The typical production of E-glass fiber involves the melting of raw materials at about 1370°C, followed by fiberization through fine bushings. This type of glass fiber is predominantly used due to its relatively low cost and favorable mechanical properties.

Properties

Good Electrical Insulator: Excellent insulating properties make E-glass fiber ideal for electrical applications.

High Strength and Stiffness: Although not as strong or stiff as some advanced fibers, E-glass fibers provide a good strength-to-weight ratio.

Cost-Effective: E-glass fibers are less expensive compared to other specialty fibers, making them widely accessible for various applications.

Uses

Uses for regular glass fiber include mats and fabrics for thermal insulation, electrical insulation, sound insulation, high-strength fabrics or heat- and corrosion-resistant fabrics. It is also used to reinforce various materials, such as tent poles, pole vault poles, arrows, bows and crossbows, translucent roofing panels, automobile bodies, hockey sticks, surfboards, boat hulls, and paper honeycomb. It has been used for medical purposes in casts. Glass fiber is extensively used for making FRP tanks and vessels.

Resin

In polymer chemistry and materials science, a resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers.

There are two main types of resin: thermoplastic and thermosetting resins.

IV. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK

 Further studies should explore the impact of different types of fibers and matrix materials, as well as the orientation of the layers, to fully understand their effects on the mechanical properties of composites. This could lead to better-tailored materials for specific applications.

This project successfully demonstrates the potential of using tailored fiber and resin compositions to create composites with desirable mechanical properties suitable for various industrial applications.

Conclusion

In this project, we investigated the mechanical properties of composite materials composed of basalt fiber, E-glass fiber, unsaturated polyester resin, and an accelerator(cobalt). Two samples were fabricated with different resin concentrations and layer arrangements to evaluate their performance under various mechanical tests including tensile, flexural, and impact (Izod) tests. Key Findings Resin Content and Mechanical Strength T-2, with a higher resin percentage of 71.52%, showed superior performance in most mechanical tests compared to Sample 1 which had only 61.47% resin. Specifically, in the tensile test, Sample 2 exhibited a higher ultimate load (17.820 kN compared to 16.156 KN) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 322.002 MPa, significantly higher than the 292.078 MPa of Sample 1. Layer Influence Sample 2, which contains 6 layers, demonstrated dramatically improved flexural strength (130.085 MPa) compared to the 54.74 MPa of the 8-layer Sample 1. This indicates that increasing the number of layers positively correlates with the flexural strength of the composite material. Consistency in Impact Resistance Both samples showed the same impact resistance with values of 6 joules, suggesting that variations in resin content and layer count did not significantly influence the impact strength under the conditions tested. Implications These findings highlight the critical role of resin content and layering in enhancing the mechanical properties of composite materials. Higher resin percentages and increased layering enhance tensile and flexural strengths, offering potential guidelines for optimizing composite material design for structural applications requiring high strength and rigidity.

References

[1] \"Application of Polymer Based Composite Materials in Transportation\" by Anna G. Koniuszewska, J. W. Kaczmar provides a summary of the latest applications of fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composites in industries such as aerospace, automotive, marine, military and sport and leisure (Koniuszewska & Kaczmar, 2016). [2] Influence of curing agents on gelation and exotherm behaviour of an unsaturated polyester resin: This study investigates the effects of initiators like MEKP and promoters like cobalt salts on the curing behavior of unsaturated polyester resin used in composites (Kuppusamy & Neogi, 2013). [3] The surface properties of precipitated and calcined cobalt oxide\" by K. T. Chisnall, Jacques Lucas, K. S. W. Sing (Chisnall et al., 1965). [4] T.Manikanatan et al study the thermal and mechanical properties of basalt fibers Published at 2021. [5] M. Lombardi et al. (2018),This research focused on the durability of basalt fibers in alkaline environments, which is a critical factor for their use in concrete and other composite materials. [6] B.Singh focused on cost effectiveness and overall performance of basalt and e glass. [7] C. Wei et al. (2019) The study by Wei and colleagues analyzed the impact of E-Glass fibers on the properties of polymer composites. [8] J. H. Park et al. (2020), This study explored the recyclability of E-Glass fibers and their environmental impacts. The results suggest that while E-Glass fibers can be recycled, the process is energy-intensive, raising concerns regarding its ecological footprint.

Copyright

Copyright © 2024 Mrs. M Santhosha Kumari, Durgunti Venkatarramanaiah, P. Abhishek, V. Ajay, R. Vijay Kumar, MD. Salman. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.