Tribo-mechanical and physical characterization of filament wound glass/epoxy composites

Abstract

The present research aims to investigate mechanical, physical and tribological properties of filament wound Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) composite pressure vessel as per respective ASTM standards. Here test coupons prepared from GFRP vessel are subjected to tensile, compression, flexural and impact testing to investigate mechanical properties. The physical properties are studied from density, ignition loss and water absorption tests. The tribological study was carried out using abrasive slurry erosion tester. All tests carried out in this study are as per respective ASTM standard. The results obtained from various mechanical testings are satisfactory and also almost equal in strength with respect to metallic pressure vessels. Particularly from impact testing, the strength of sea water treated sample has considerably increased. Fractography study was conducted on failed samples to study various mode of failure in detail. The physical characterization has elaborated the behavior of filament wound GFRP material under moisture environment which has observed a maximum of 0.5% water absorption rate. As per ignition loss study which reveals about 95%-98% weight of ignition loss is recorded, which indicates perfect fibre to resin ratio and almost nil or least % of void content. The slurry erosion test results are within the expected range and maximum wear of 9.67% is recorded under extreme case. The overall study reveals that the presence of voids, non-uniform distribution of fibre and matrix have an impact on the outcomes of many mechanical properties. From the above study we can conclude that filament wound GFRP pressure vessel can be used in many applications since it is a non-hydrophobic, better wear resistant and several strength parameters have also improved or unaltered under rigorous testing conditions.