Author(s)

Basappa Hulugappa, Mysuru V. Achutha, Bheemappa Suresha

Department of Mechanical Engineering, The National Institute of Engineering, Mysore, India.

Plain weave woven glass fabric reinforced epoxy (G-E) composite filled with two different types of fillers namely graphite, silicon carbide (each 5 and 10 wt%) was fabricated by hand lay-up method and compressed using hot press. These composites were investigated for their static mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural properties and impact strength as well as mode-I fracture toughness as per ASTM standards. Experimental results on mechanical properties indicate that the strength and the modulus in tensile and flexural mode for G-E composite increase with increasing filler loading. The unfilled G-E composite has the tensile strength of 305 MPa and increased to 404.2 MPa for 10 wt% silicon carbide. However, in three-point bend mode, addition of graphite in G-E showed the highest flexural strength as well as modulus. Mode-I fracture toughness test results indicated that the graphite filler loading improved the toughness of G-E composite. Selected failed samples under tensile, bending and mode-I fracture were examined using scanning electron microscope to identify the fracture features.

G-E Composite, Fillers, Mechanical Properties, Fracture Toughness

Hulugappa, B., Achutha, M.V. and Suresha, B. (2016) Effect of Fillers on Mechanical Properties and Fracture Toughness of Glass Fabric Reinforced Epoxy Composites. Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, 4, 1-14. doi: 10.4236/jmmce.2016.41001.