Investigation on mechanical behaviour of filament wound glass/epoxy composites subjected to water absorption and also tribological studies using Taguchi method

Abstract

The current study is mainly focused on the mechanical and tribological behaviour of GEC (Glass Epoxy Composites) (GEC- fabricated using filament winding technique) over the effect of various water immersion examinations for a defined time limit. In this study we mainly focus on filament wound glass/epoxy composite samples directly taken from composite pressure vessel. The important aspect of this study is to understand and investigate the percentage reduction or increase in the various mechanical and tribological properties under the influence of moisture. Here three (sea water, purified/distil water, boiling water) water containers where samples are treated as per water absorption test ASTM standard. These treated samples are examined for different mechanical strengths. From impact testing, the influence of boiling water on impact strength of glass/epoxy is high (impact strength in increasing order untreated < distilled < sea < boiling) when compared with other cases. Similar outcomes have been observed in case bending test also. Presence of water molecules enhances mechanical strength as water particles fills the gap or delays the voids or imperfections of samples to reach the boundaries. GEC samples made of filament winding process are examined for wet slurry erosion wear in an erosion testing machine as per the respective ASTM standard. The selection of number of experiments and identifying the most influencing parameter is done using the DOE (Design of Experiments) tool Taguchi L9 method. In the outcomes, erosion rate of glass/epoxy composite have highest influence of large sized sand particles with sand concentration 900 g, at a spindle speed of 1000 rpm. Whereas the smaller sand particles with lesser sand concentration have least impact on the erosion rate.