Unidirectional Glass Fiber Research Articles

Experimental and numerical analysis of the Microstructure and mechanical properties of unidirectional glass fiber reinforced epoxy composites

This paper proposes a numerical model to predict the pattern and features of the fracture surface and to understand the mechanisms and cause of the failure. Various fiber orientations of 0°, 90°, 0°/90° and ± 45° were utilized in the production of unidirectional glass-fiber-reinforced epoxy composites via the vacuum bagging technique. The mechanical properties of the manufactured composites were evaluated by measuring parameters including tensile strength, compressive strength, flexural strength and interlaminar shear strength. High-resolution scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the mechanisms of fracture in laminates. The mechanical properties of the composite material were found to be considerably improved when a unidirectional 0° fiber orientation was used, as compared to other fiber orientations. This was true for tensile, compressive, flexural and interlaminar shear loading modes. The composite laminates demonstrated several modes of breaking, including fibers pulling away from the matrix, holes in the matrix and river flow lines, depending on the direction of the fibers. The outcomes of the numerical simulation demonstrate a high level of fidelity with experimental findings. This study provides a valuable reference for predicting numerical analysis of the microstructure and mechanical properties.

Application of fiberglass pipes in geothermal circulation systems

The results of calculating the coefficient of thermal conductivity of the developed construction of the pipeline from multilayer composite spatially oriented fiberglass are given. A method of calculating the coefficient of thermal conductivity of a pipe wall with a complex structure of reinforcement has been developed. The fiberglass pipe is made by the continuous method of oblique-layer longitudinal-transverse winding on a self-feeding frame of reinforcing pseudo-tape moistened with a binder in the form of a rarefied mesh. With each rotation of the mandrel, it shifts by the amount of hardening of the obtained two-component material under the influence of temperature. A comparison of calculated and experimental data was made. When comparing various known calculated dependencies and experimental values, the accepted physical model and the real structure of the material are determined. The known dependences obtained for a medium with infinite long parallel cylindrical inclusions for unidirectional and orthogonally reinforced materials and therefore for materials with a complex structure and scheme of reinforcements give errors and deviations. The work assumes that fiberglass consists of two components - a reinforcing filler and a binder with pores, the reinforcing fibers are endless and have a circular cross-section, the reinforcing fibers are evenly distributed in the matrix of the binder, there is an ideal thermal contact at the boundaries of the distribution between the reinforcement and the binder. Experimental data on determining the transverse thermal conductivity of unidirectional fiberglass rods with reinforcement based on aluminoborosilicate or magnesium-aluminosilicate glass and epoxy binders showed the smallest error in comparison with the calculated ones (8-10%). They investigated the fact that the coefficient of thermal conductivity of a fiberglass pipe is 100 times lower than that of a steel pipe. It was determined that it is possible to replace a steel pipe with a diameter of 219 mm with a fiberglass pipe with a diameter of 146 mm.

Comparative analysis of the dynamic characteristics of all-metal, composite and composite blades with the same profile, taking into account the influence of the connection of elements and aerodynamic loads

The paper presents a comparative analysis of the dynamic properties of the blades of one rotary machine which have the same airfoil shape, but are made of three different materials, namely aluminum alloy, a complex material combining aluminum alloy and steel, and a composite material which is unidirectional fiberglass. In the case of an all-metal blade, its airfoil and root are made of aluminum alloy. In the case of complex blade airfoil material, the root is made of steel which is also a component of the airfoil material. In the case of a composite blade, the root is steel and is connected at the root section to its composite airfoil. The main attention when comparing models of the mechanical behavior of three types of blades is paid to the influence of the connection of complex and composite elements with the root on the dynamic characteristics of the blade as a whole which is achieved by considering the contact interactions of the elements under the action of centrifugal and aerodynamic loads and the subsequent transfer of the prestressed state of the blades to the modal analysis for determination of the dynamic characteristics of samples and their comparison. In order to correctly display the fixation of elements in the fan impeller in the case of an aluminum blade, the sector of cyclic symmetry of the rotor is considered which makes it possible to draw a conclusion about the possibility of further separate consideration of the blade for determination of its dynamic characteristics due to the much greater stiffness of the connection of the blade with the impeller in comparison with stiffness of the blade airfoil, and to generalize this conclusion in the case of a complex blade by considering a steel root with an aluminum profile with rigid clamping of the model on the contact shelves of the root, and in the case of a composite blade by considering an airfoil with rigid clamping in the root section, where the fastening to the steel root of the blade takes place. The results of a comparative analysis of the dynamic behavior of three types of blades with the same airfoil shape are presented in the form of a study of the blade natural frequencies and mode shapes.

Effect of Combining Nano- and Microfillers for the Assessment of Thermal Class of Glass Fiber-Reinforced Epoxy Composites for Outdoor Insulation

The present work was taken up with the objective to develop a compact and reliable hybrid composite insulation, investigate the thermal properties of the developed composites and correlate the experimental data with results of mathematical modelling. A composite material made of unidirectional glass fibers reinforced with epoxy resin, and containing silica, alumina, and aluminatrihydrate fillers, was fabricated using the pultrusion technique. Thermogravimetric analysis, thermal conductivity, and coefficient of thermal expansion were conducted on the developed composites. The energy of activation was estimated from the thermograms using mathematical models to assess the thermal class of the composites. Though G-E composite is typically classified under class F insulation, the study has established that due to the unique filler combination, has a higher temperature index ranging between 156 °C - 166 °C. The improvement in thermal performance was observed when each filler is present in a weight percentage of 10%. The hybrid composites have excellent thermal conductivity (0.43 W/mK), a low coefficient of thermal expansion (22.1 μm/m°C), and hence useful for high-temperature insulation applications like circuit breakers, vacuum interrupters, transformers, switching gear etc.

Polymer composites with short recycled glass fibres manufactured by vacuum infusion

Recycling glass fibre reinforced thermoset composites remains a challenge despite years of research in the field. Among the barriers for a successful recycling, the properties of the recycled materials and their application in new products represent the main ones. With a pyrolysis recycling process, clean glass fibres can be extracted and separated from the polymer matrix. In this paper, recycled glass fibres are incorporated in a new polymer composite structure using both virgin and recycled glass fibres. Recycled glass fibres have a Young’s modulus comparable to virgin glass fibres. The objective is to identify a composite lay-up using virgin and recycled glass fibres, and where the Young’s modulus of recycled fibres is beneficial for the resulting composites mechanical properties. To do so, a sandwich structure composite with virgin fibres on the outer layer and recycled fibres in the inside is designed and manufactured. In order to produce flat panels despite the short and random fibres, a manufacturing procedure ensuring a good dispersion of the fibres and controlling the thickness of the panel is developed. Panels are produced incorporating two different weight fraction of recycled glass fibres. The quality of the panels are characterized using microstructure observations, fibre porosity analysis and mechanical testing. Results shows that the sandwich composites have a low porosity content and achieves higher bending stiffness than a composite only made of unidirectional virgin glass fibres.

STUDY THE EFFECT OF EXTERNAL CRACK ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS

Increasing the strength of the matrix material rather than increasing stiffness is frequently the primary objective when designing composite materials. This is typically the case when the matrix is made of brittle, low-strength material. the resilience of this matrix substance Usually, it is determined by the initial flaws in the raw material. Depending on the microstructure of the composite material, these flaws or fissures may be large or minor. The orientations of the foil fibers, which can be customized to improve the performance of the laminate, have a significant impact on the properties of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) laminates. This study's goal is to look at how matrix cracking affects the mechanical characteristics of FRP chips. The presence and absence of exterior cracks are examined in unidirectional glass fiber reinforced polymer strips. Samples were manually cast using plastic molds constructed in accordance with ASTM standards. It were able to comprehend the impact of external cracking on composite materials through the mechanical tests that were conducted since it causes the material to weaken. Consequently, it is seen as a location where tensions are concentrated.

Dynamic response of polymeric railway sleepers under harsh loading and environmental conditions

ABSTRACT Several composite sleeper technologies have been developed, possibly allowing the railway sector to replace wood and concrete sleepers. Although high-magnitude impact loads can occur on the railway track and sleepers due to wheel/rail abnormalities or train derailment, the behaviour of these sleepers under impact loading has not yet been well understood. In this paper, a high-energy drop hammer facility was utilized to investigate the impact behaviour of a polymeric composite rail sleeper made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and unidirectional glass fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP). Quasi-static tests and high strain rate tests were conducted on the materials at room and low/high temperatures to gain more insight into the effects of the temperature and strain rate on the mechanical properties of the HDPE and GFRP made of virgin resin. The results suggest that both materials exhibit strong viscoelastic plasticity, temperature softening, and strain rate-hardening effects. High strain rate and low temperature made the GFRP material extremely brittle and prone to develop cracks. Due to the temperature and strain rate dependency of the thermoplastic materials of the sleepers, in addition to impact tests at room temperature (~23°C), impact tests were also performed at low temperatures (~ minus 30°C) on the sleepers. The findings suggest that low-temperature impact assessment should be considered for all polymeric sleepers (to be installed in regions having extremely low temperatures) since these low temperatures affect the ductility of polymers, decreasing the ultimate impact load-bearing capacity of composite sleepers.

Static and fatigue cracking of thick carbon/glass hybrid composite laminates with complex wrinkle defects

This study presents an experimental investigation of cracking behavior of thick carbon/glass fiber hybrid composite laminates with manufacturing-induced ply wrinkles. Both pure glass fiber and glass/carbon fiber hybrid epoxy composite laminates are tested under static and cyclic tension. Stress–strain responses of the specimens under static tension are recorded and the failure sequences are identified. The cyclic loading is applied to the specimens under tension–tension fatigue. The stiffness degradation of the specimens is measured and the cracking events during the fatigue test are identified. The study shows that the glass/carbon fiber epoxy composite laminates first crack at a lower stress level than the pure glass ones despite their higher extension stiffness. The first cracking in the hybrid laminates occurs at the interface between different glass fiber layers while the first cracking in the pure glass laminates occurs between the rich region and the adjacent glass fiber layer in the wrinkled region. Under fatigue loading, the first cracking in hybrid laminates occurs within the carbon fiber layer while the one in the pure glass laminates occurs within the unidirectional glass fiber layer. This study also proposes a novel yet simple image difference analysis method, that by only using optical images of the specimens under fatigue loading, can accurately and efficiently pinpoint the stiffness drops at different fatigue cycles. This study provides new experimental insights into the failure of glass/carbon hybrid laminates toward a more damage-tolerant design.

Economic competitiveness of pultruded fiber composites for wind turbine applications

Pultrusion manufacturing of fiber reinforced polymers has been shown to yield some of the highest mechanical properties for unidirectional composites, having a high degree of fiber alignment with consistent performance. Pultrusions offer a low-cost manufacturing approach for producing unidirectional composites with a constant cross-section and are used in many applications, including spar caps of wind turbine blades. However, as an intermediate processing step for wind blades, the additional cost of manufacturing pultrusions must be accompanied by sufficient increases in mechanical performance and system benefits. Wind turbine blades are manufactured using vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding with infused unidirectional fiberglass or carbon pultrusions for the spar cap. Infused fiberglass composites are among the most cost-effective structural materials available and replacing this material in the cost-driven wind industry has proven challenging, where infused fiberglass spar caps are still the predominant material system in use. To evaluate alternative material systems in a pultruded composite form, it is necessary to understand the costs for this additional manufacturing step which are shown to add 33%–55% on top of the material costs. A pultrusion cost model has been developed and used to quantify cost sensitivities to various processing parameters. The mechanical performance for pultruded composites is improved versus resin-infusion manufacturing with a 17% increase in design strength at a constant fiber volume fraction, but also enables higher achievable fiber volume fractions. The cost-specific mechanical performance is compared as a function of processing parameters for pultruded composites to identify the opportunities for alternative material and manufacturing approaches for wind turbine spar caps. Four materials are compared in a representative wind turbine blade model to assess the performance of pultruded carbon fiber systems and pultruded fiberglass relative to infused fiberglass, where the pultruded systems produce lower weight blades with various cost distinctions.

Low energy impact behavior of unidirectional and cross-ply flax/epoxy laminates and comparison with similar glass/epoxy laminates

Unidirectional (UD) and cross-ply flax and glass fiber reinforced composites (FFRC and GFRC)are tested under four out-of-plane low velocity impact loads. A hybrid flax reinforcement was used, denoted UD-mat, which is made of a UD layer of continuous flax fibers bound to a flax fiber mat layer. For the mat binder, two types of short flax fibers are considered: unmodified fibers and refined ones. The laminates made ofrefined fibers show the highest permanent and maximum displacements. Moreover,the peak load for the unidirectional FFRC with refinedfibers is lower than that with unmodified fibers, for example it is 25% lower at 11 J. When comparing with flax fiber laminates, the absorbed energy and energy absorption ratio are on average 40% lower for glass laminates but less damage is observed. Several failure modes are observed in the flax laminates, while the main failure of the glass/epoxy laminates is delamination.

3D Finite Element investigation in high speed drilling of unidirectional Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer composite

The unidirectional Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymers (UD-GFRP) composites have wide spread usage in the current modern industries, because of their significant mechanical behavior over conventional materials and metals. Drilling operation is a vital machining process of making holes with high precision during the pre-assembly process of the laminates. Hole with higher precision is needed to guarantee the strength of the joint made during the assembly process. However, the effect of key drilling parameter settings like cutting speed, tool diameter, tool geometry, drill material and feed rate is more significant in achieving acceptable dimensional tolerance and quality holes. The effect of the thrust forces in the quality of the hole and chip morphology is very high especially during the high speed drilling process. Hence, the prediction and investigation of the critical thrust force is very much needed to reduce the machining induced defects and thereby improving the effectiveness of the drilling process. In this research work, the prevalidated 3D Finite Element Model (3D FEM) developed in ABAQUS/Explicit software is utilized to analyze and explore the complex cutting mechanics behind high speed drilling of GFRP composite. The effect of machining parameters settings on thrust forces are predicted and reported using 3D FE analysis.

Novel high-performance polyamide tapes with unidirectional glass fiber reinforcement

The Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems announced on August 09, that Glass-fiber polyamide tapes for use in innovative and cost-effective lightweight structures for high-volume production have been developed by DOMO Engineering Plastics GmbH and the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS. The high-performance semi-finished products offer a wide range of applications from automotive to aerospace.

Bending and shear improvements in 3D-printed core sandwich composites through modification of resin uptake in the skin/core interphase region

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) printed polymers are rarely used as a structural material due to anisotropic and low mechanical properties compared with conventional composites. In recent years, greater need has been expressed for recycling of materials, such as recyclable FDM, at the end of service life to reduce environmental pollution and manufacture cost. However, how the amount of resin uptake in the skin and skin/core interphase affects the bending and shear performance of the sandwich composites when replacing the low strength and ductile core (conventional core) with a high strength and brittle core (FDM printed PLA (polylactic acid) core) still remains unclear. A new manufacturing routine is needed to improve the incorporation of FDM printed polymers in composite structures. In this work, FDM printed PLA was used as core material and sandwiched between two unidirectional glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) skins to form a sandwich composite by compression-molding (CM) process, which provides a good manufacturing strategy for skin/core interphase modification. The significance of the CM process is proved by investigating the effect of resin uptake on bending and in-plane/out-of-plane shear performances. Current first order shear deformation (FSDT) theory lacks a direct connection between the in-plane shear stress and out-of-shear stress in the core region of sandwich composites. With the help of DIC, a connection between the in-plane shear and the out-of-plane shear strain was built and in-plane shear properties can acquire through out-of-plane shear properties, hence reducing the redundancy of sample preparation or the need for simulation. A significant improvement was found compared with the optimized resin uptake (Optimized resin uptake range: 20.43%–22.86 wt%) 3D-printed PLA core sandwich composite and lowest performance sandwich composite (Improvement: in-plane shear strength (∼34%)/modulus (∼29%), out-of-plane shear strength (∼25%)/modulus (∼31%), specific peak bending load (∼19%)). Compared with balsa core sandwich composites, the 3D-printed cores are suitable for use in composite sandwich structures in many applications with a satisfactory strength-to-weight ratio.

Effect of accelerated weathering on the performance of natural fibre reinforced recyclable polymer composites and comparison with conventional composites

This work investigated the long-term performance of unidirectional (UD) flax fibre reinforced recyclable polymer composites (FFRPs), after accelerated weathering for a total of 56 days, in laboratory environment. The employed recyclable polymer matrices were a bio-based epoxy and a liquid thermoplastic acrylic resin. The performance of the developed composites, were compared with traditional UD glass fibre composites (GFRPs), employing a standard petro-based epoxy resin, in terms of flexural and viscoelastic properties, while visual inspection and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were employed to investigate further the effects of ageing after exposure. It was revealed that the reinforcing fibres dominated the performance of the composites after ageing, whilst the choice of polymer matrix exhibited less influence.

Influence of interphase characteristics on the elastic modulus of unidirectional glass-reinforced epoxy composites: a computational micromechanics study

Abstract This article briefly discusses the role of interphase in the elastic moduli of unidirectional fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials. For this unidirectional glass fiber was chosen as reinforcement, and epoxy was selected as the matrix. A hexagonally packed representative volume element is used for the micromechanical analysis. Experimental validation was initially used to verify the accuracy of the established equations of the rule of mixing, Composite Cylinder Assemblage, Chamis, Halpin and Tsai, and Puck. The Chamis equation was found to be the most reasonable. Then the finite element approach in which interphase has been included was used to estimate the elastic moduli. The finite element model without interphase and the experimental result were taken as a reference. The influence of interface ratio and property of interphase on the homogenised elastic properties of the unidirectional fiber-reinforced polymer composites is analysed. A micromechanics plugin in Abaqus software was used to estimate the density and Young’s modulus of the unidirectional fiber-reinforced polymer composites. The interphase properties are varied, having 6.25%, 12.5%, 25% and 50% influence of the fiber phase and the remaining influence of the matrix phase with interface ratios of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3. The interface ratio of 0.3, having 6.25% fiber phase influence, gave the most reasonable moduli values (with an error <10%) compared to the mean experimental moduli. The study showed interface ratio and interphase properties to critically influence the overall elastic property of the unidirectional fiber-reinforced polymer composites.

Analysis of material removal process when scratching unidirectional fibers reinforced polyester composites

AbstractIn this study, the micromechanical scratch behavior of unidirectional glass fiber reinforced polyester (GFRP) using several wear conditions was highlighted. Single-indenter scratch tests (SSTs) were carried out on GFRP composite material perpendicular (SST⊥) and parallel (SST//) to fiber direction. Damage modes dominating the material removal process (MRP) and friction exhibit significant sensitivity to both attack angle and normal load. From findings, damage modes and apparent friction coefficient substantially accentuate when increasing the attack angle. The inspections of the damage state at different testing conditions using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) reveal the dominating modes governing the MRP through the different phases. The response surface methodology (RSM) was adopted to develop a mathematical model based on the measured data. The RSM approach was found very promoting for predicting friction evolution versus attack angle and normal load. The proposed model reveals good ability not only in predicting apparent friction coefficient but also in detecting separately its ploughing and adhesive component. To emphasize the correlation between friction coefficient and MRP, the wear maps have been drawn up.

Interlaminar performance of 3D CNTs/carbon black film enhanced GFRP under low-temperature cycling

Unidirectional Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) laminates were prepared by inserting three-dimensional (3D) CNTs/carbon black film or CNTs/graphene oxide (GO) film into the laminates to improve the interlaminar performance. The effects of low-temperature cycles (35 cycles between −58 °C and room temperature (RT)) on the samples were investigated, and the damage caused to the reinforcement layer was directly detected by comparing the interlaminar images. By comparing the experimental results of the double cantilever beam (DCB) and end notch bending (ENF) test, the optimising effect of the new composite film (CNTs/carbon black film) on the interlaminar fracture toughness was verified. The results showed that the interlaminar fracture toughness of CNTs/GO film and CNTs/carbon black film in modes I (ENF test) and II (DCB test) was similar and superior to that of CNTs film. Regarding the effect of the low-temperature cycles on the samples, the change of CNTs/carbon black film and CNTs/GO film is also lower than that of CNTs film. Finally, the matrix interface and failure mechanisms of the interlaminar reinforcement were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM).

Dynamic mechanical analysis of glass fiber reinforced epoxy filled nanoclay hybrid composites

In this work, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) of hybrid composite material made up of glass fiber reinforced epoxy polymer filled with nanoclay particles is investigated. The effect of fiber architecture, orientation and concentration on DMA properties of hybrids is studied. Three different types of glass fiber mats were chosen, namely, unidirectional glass fiber (UD-GF), woven glass fiber (W-GF) and chopped strand mat glass fiber (CSM-GF) and they were individually reinforced in epoxy polymer matrix at three different varying concentration (25 wt%, 50 wt% and 75 wt%). The nanoclay particles were added as filler material and its concentration was varied from 1 to 5 wt% in all the hybrid series. In UD-GF reinforced hybrid, the fibers are oriented at different orientation (0° to 90°) with respect to loading condition and the DMA properties was evaluated. The structure and fiber–matrix interface morphologies were examined by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis. The effect of interface properties on DMA properties is studied by theoretical and Cole-cole methods. The result shows that the DMA properties such as storage module, glass transition temperature (Tg) and Tanδ curve (peak and width) were affected by both the concentration and morphology of glass fiber reinforcement and the nanoclay fillers. In general, nanoclay reinforcement in glass fiber reinforced epoxy composites improves the hybridization effect and positively improves the DMA properties.

Validation of a shape-optimized 2-unit cantilevered inlay-retained fiber-reinforced resin-bonded dental prosthesis

Statement of problemCurrent designs of fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) resin-bonded fixed dental prostheses (RBFDPs) have a limited lifespan, failing mainly through veneer-fiber delamination, debonding, and fracture. PurposeThe purpose of this in vitro study was to validate a new inlay-retained 2-unit cantilevered RBFDP with an optimized cavity and fiber layout proposed in a previous study by using simulated occlusal loading. Material and methodsTwo groups of specimens (n=20), 1 with and 1 without glass fibers, were used to test the influence of the cavity design and that of the fiber layout on their load capacity, respectively. The specimens without fibers were directly cut from a resin-ceramic block by using a computer-aided manufacturing system, while those with fibers were manually fabricated with unidirectional glass fibers and composite resin in a silicone mold. The specimens with and without fibers were attached to abutments made of the same resin-ceramic with a cyanoacrylate-based adhesive and a resin-based dental cement, respectively. An increasing compressive load was applied on the mesial fossa of the premolar pontic until failure. Cracking in the specimens during loading was monitored with a 2-channel acoustic emission (AE) system. ResultsAll the specimens without fiber reinforcement debonded from the abutments. Those using the optimized shovel-shaped cavity design had a mean ±standard deviation failure load (50.0 ±17.3 N) that was 193% higher than that of those with the conventional step-box design (17.1 ±6.2 N; P<.001). No significant difference was found between the groups for the mean number of AE events per specimen (step-box: 49 ±34 versus shovel-shaped: 63 ±34; P=.427), the mean amplitude of each event (58.4 ±1.3 dB versus 59.5 ±2.4 dB; P=.299), or the mean time to failure (283.2 ±122.3 seconds versus 297.5 ±66.7 seconds; P=.798). Between the groups of specimens with reinforcing fibers, the mean failure load of the conventional design was approximately half that of the optimized one. Again, no significant difference was found for the mean number of AE events per specimen (conventional: 28 ±18 versus optimized: 52 ±53; P=.248) or the mean amplitude for each AE event (64.9 ±4.2 dB versus 61.7 ±5.2 dB; P=.187). The connectors of 8 fiber-reinforced specimens with the conventional design fractured; the other 2 debonded from the abutments. Half of the shape-optimized fiber-reinforced specimens had fractured abutments, but the cantilevers remained intact, 4 specimens fractured at the connector, and only 1 debonded from its abutment. ConclusionsThe shape-optimized 2-unit cantilevered FRC RBFDP had a higher load capacity than the conventional design.

Effect of gelatin treatment on tow deformation in resin-impregnated glass fiber

The potential use of gelatin materials in the liquid composite molding manufacturing (LCM) process was investigated, with specific focus on the reinforcement deformation phenomenon. The adoptability of gelatin as a binder in a composite material with glass fiber for application in the LCM process was evaluated by analyzing the permeability and microscopic structure of the gelatin-coated glass fiber. To assess the tow deformation, the permeability of the non-crimped unidirectional glass fiber mat was evaluated at different flow rates that could be applied in the LCM process. Hysteresis of the permeability was observed as the flow rate increased and decreased, indicative of tow deformation. The permeability of the gelatin-treated glass fiber mat exhibited a relatively smaller variation than that of the untreated glass fiber at the same flow rate. Tow deformation in the untreated and gelatin-treated non-crimped glass fiber mats at different flow rates was evaluated by microscopic analysis and quantified using the tow thickness index. Relatively smaller variations in the permeability and minimal changes in the tow thickness of the gelatin-treated glass fiber mat were observed via microscopic analysis, indicating that gelatin effectively maintained the binding structure of the glass fiber mat.