Effect of temperature on the mechanical behavior of glass fiber reinforced with hollow glass particle-filled epoxy composites

Abstract

The design of marine ships and aircraft components with hollow glass particle-filled fiber-reinforced composites demands an understanding of their performance under outdoor conditions. The continuous glass fiber-reinforced epoxy matrix filled with hollow glass particles in the range of 0–0.3 vol fraction was prepared by the compression molding machine. The influence of temperature exposure on the mechanical behavior of glass fiber-reinforced hollow glass particle composites was studied by conducting tensile and flexural tests. The temperature exposure varying from room temperature up to 60 °C was used to investigate the effect of service temperature on the hollow glass particle-filled fiber composite specimens. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis was conducted to study the glass transition behavior of the composites. The incorporation of microspheres in the glass fiber composites gradually reduced the tensile and flexural strength, while their specific values increased as increasing the microspheres. The hollow glass particle-filled fiber composites tested at 60 °C exhibited a decrease in tensile and flexural strength compared with room temperature. As the température of the test spécimens was nearer to the glass transition value, the polymer chain was softened, leading to a reduction in strength. In contrast, the modulus values remain unaffected by increasing the temperature to 60 °C.