TITLE:
Effect of Fillers on Mechanical Properties and Fracture Toughness of Glass Fabric Reinforced Epoxy Composites
AUTHORS:
Basappa Hulugappa, Mysuru V. Achutha, Bheemappa Suresha
KEYWORDS:
G-E Composite, Fillers, Mechanical Properties, Fracture Toughness
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering,
Vol.4 No.1,
January
13,
2016
ABSTRACT: Plain weave woven glass fabric reinforced epoxy (G-E) composite filled with two different types of
fillers namely graphite, silicon carbide (each 5 and 10 wt%) was fabricated by hand lay-up method
and compressed using hot press. These composites were investigated for their static mechanical
properties such as tensile, flexural properties and impact strength as well as mode-I fracture
toughness as per ASTM standards. Experimental results on mechanical properties indicate that
the strength and the modulus in tensile and flexural mode for G-E composite increase with increasing
filler loading. The unfilled G-E composite has the tensile strength of 305 MPa and increased
to 404.2 MPa for 10 wt% silicon carbide. However, in three-point bend mode, addition of
graphite in G-E showed the highest flexural strength as well as modulus. Mode-I fracture toughness
test results indicated that the graphite filler loading improved the toughness of G-E composite.
Selected failed samples under tensile, bending and mode-I fracture were examined using
scanning electron microscope to identify the fracture features.