Fabrication of Fibre-Reinforced Composites Using Vacuum Infusion Process and Testing

Abstract

AbstractNowadays, industrial requirements for lighter components with high mechanical resistance have motivated research studies on alternative materials along with their appropriate forming processes. To meet the demands of the industry, fibre-reinforced composites have shown to be an appropriate solution as can be seen, especially in the increment in aircraft components manufacturing. Though, research on composites is reasonably at an advance stage now, it still faces many limitations to be covered, like temperature resistance, fabrication, and also sometimes the strength. In the context of this, two types of fibre-reinforced composites were fabricated using the vacuum infusion process with polymer, such as epoxy and polyester and reinforcement as fibre, such as woven fabric and chopped fibre along with different types of filler materials. Fabricated fibre-reinforced composite was tested for mechanical properties, such as tensile strength and flexural strength. A combination of three woven mats impregnated with epoxy resin with mica filler gave the highest tensile strength of 183.67 N/mm2. Whereas, composites with epoxy and silica filler gave the highest flexural strength of 127.811 N/mm2.KeywordsFibre-reinforced compositesPolyesterEpoxyVacuum infusion processFlexural strength