Synthesis and characterisation of E-glass based composites with different fillers for defence automotive applications

Abstract

The fibre composites are special materials consisting of unique properties such as high specific strength, high specific stiffness, corrosion resistance, high fatigue life etc. They have immense potential to replace the traditionally utilised materials, steel and aluminium for manufacturing of various components of vehicles which renders them very heavy and bulky. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of producing innovative alternative lighter composite materials using E-glass for increasing the safety, movability, performance of the military vehicles. Five different composites were synthesis without fillers and with 4% ZnO, SiO, carbon black and hybrid fillers using hand layup technique. Various mechanical tests such as tension, compression, flexural, inter laminar shear, impact and hardness test were performed on the composites to evaluate and analyse their mechanical properties for exploration of their effective utilisation in automobiles. The study determined that the composite with ZnO filler manifested superlative behaviour in comparison to other materials under examination.