Investigation of wear and mechanical properties of hybrid polymer composites

Abstract

The present work focuses on the fabrication of hybrid composites using glass fiber and steel sheet embedded in epoxy resins. The fabrication of hybrid laminates with the help of the Hand lay-up method. The volume fraction of Epoxy resin is maintained constant at 40 %, 0, 5, 10 % of spring steel sheet and 50, 55, and 60 % of glass fiber. The mechanical properties like flexural, impact and tensile strength were investigated. The dry and sliding wear behavior of hybrid laminates was also analyzed. The Taguchi approach was used to identify the optimal parameters for the wear performance. The results show that the steel sheet has positions at the center with 50 % glass fiber and 10 % steel sheet better properties. Steel sheet volume fraction 10 % and sliding distance 1000 m, and load 80 N were identified as optimal parameters.