Comparison of the Mechanical and Thermo-Mechanical Properties of Unfilled and SiC Filled Short Glass Polyester Composites

Abstract

This paper presents a comparison between particulate filled (SiC particles) and unfilled glass polyester composites on the basis of their mechanical and thermo-mechanical properties. The results show that particulate filled composites have a decreasing trend in mechanical properties when compared to the unfilled glass polyester composites. In particulate filled composites, the tensile and flexural strength of the composites decrease with the addition of 10 wt.-% SiC particles but increase with 20 wt.-% SiC particles. In the case of the unfilled glass polyester composite, the tensile and flexural strength of the composites increase with an increase in the fiber loading. However, higher values of tensile strength and flexural strength of particulate filled glass polyester were found than that of the unfilled glass polyester composite. In the case of thermo-mechanical and thermal properties, the particulate filled composites show better dynamical and thermal properties when compared to the unfilled glass polyester composites. The mechanical and thermal properties (i.e. thermal conductivity) are also calculated using FE modeling (ANSYS software) and the results from this simulation shows good agreement with the experimental results.