Identification of mechanical characteristics of Boron Carbide filled glass–epoxy composite treated to low temperature

Abstract

The present work focus on identifying tensile & flexural characteristics of Boron Carbide (B4C) filled E-Glass/Epoxy composite with and without application of low temperature. A reinforcement of E-glass is provided to Epoxy matrix for composite fabrication. Hand lay-up technique is adopted for fabricating two batches of test specimens and one batch is treated to -60°C temperature treatment. One batch of specimens involves E-glass/Epoxy composite without B4C, 5% & 10% B4C tested at ambient temperature. Additional batch are fabricated with said composition, treated to -60°C for 1 hour duration, later tested according to ASTM D3039 and D790. The experiment reveals the improvement in the said properties of composite material after the addition of B4C. Additionally implementation of low temperature treatment improves tensile and flexural properties of test specimens. These will depict the improved characteristics of composites with the said conditions due to addition of strong filler materials B4C, thermal contraction of fibres post low temperature treatment.