Mechanical Characterization of Glass-Basalt-Carbon/Polyester Hybrid Composites

Abstract

Influence of the stacking sequences of hybrid composites on the tensile strength, flexural strength, inter-laminar shear strength (ILSS) and impact energy was investigated. The hybrid glass-basalt-carbon/polyester composite laminates were processed by hand lay-up procedure at room temperature. The fracture surface of the composite laminates after the tension and flexural test was examined by scanning electron micrograph (SEM). The results show that the best mechanical properties were obtained for the composite laminates S5 at stacking sequences [C/B/C/B/C]; where the tensile strength, flexural strength, and ILSS were 148 MPa, 448 MPa, and 25 MPa, respectively. This decline in mechanical properties attributed to the good interfacial bonding between the fibres and the matrix in this configuration. On the other hand, the largest impact strength (43.70 kJ/mm2) was clearly observed for laminates S2 at the stacking sequences [C/G/C/G/C] compared to other laminates simply due to the high stiffness and strength of the carbon fabrics.