Abstract
Unsaturated polyesters are important matrix resins used for glass fiber-reinforced composites/plastics. The strength of glass fiber-reinforced polyester composite is mainly related to the glass content of the material and the arrangement of glass fibers, but the mechanical properties can be altered by introducing some filler materials in glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites. In this paper, an effort is made to study the effect of different % of filler material on mechanical properties of the GFRP. Hand layup process is used for manufacturing the GFRP composite strips for testing. E-type glass fiber chopped strand mat (CSM) is used as reinforced material, unsaturated polyester resin is used for matrix, and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is used as filler material. During manufacturing the specimens, the polyester resin % is kept fixed and effect of filler and glass fiber percentage variation is evaluated in terms of tensile strength, impact strength and toughness variation. In the experiments, the increase in the volume fraction of E-glass fiber CSM increased the material flexural, tensile, and impact strength. The consequences show that appropriate procedures are applied with the proper choices. When the CaCO3 ratio increases, particles could cluster, and this causes deviation in strength variation curves, but it has also been observed that the finishing of specimen is better in case of higher filler volume fraction.
Published Version
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