Mechanical Characterization of Glass Fiber-Strengthened Balsa–Depron Composite

Abstract

The present day records the greatest usage of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in civil and military fields. UAVs are experimenting materials with respect to physical and mechanical properties which should have more strength to weight ratio, resistance to buckling, high ultimate tensile strength, less inflammable, low thermal gradient, high resistance to noise, high resistance to vibration, resistant against deteriorative fuels and chemicals, low corrosion, low oxidation, and high fatigue. This paper presents an experimental investigation of mechanical properties of balsawood–glass fiber, depron–balsa wood, and depron–glass fiber–balsa wood composites. Tensile, hardness, flexural, and thermal tests of different samples are conducted as per ASTM standards. Depron–glass fiber–balsa wood showed 6 times greater tensile strength and 66% hardness than plain balsa wood. Depron–glass fiber–balsa wood showed 34% greater flexural strength than plain balsa wood.