CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Composite Materials
Composite materials or simply composites are combinations of materials. They are made up of
combining two or more materials in such a way that the resulting materials have certain
design properties or improved properties. The strength of the composite depends primarily on
the amount, arrangement and type of fiber (or particle) reinforcement in the resin. Typically the
higher the reinforcement content, the greater the strength. In some cases, glass fibers are combined
with other fibers, such as carbon or aramid (Kevlar29 and Kevlar49), to create a "hybrid"
composite that combines the properties of more than one reinforcing material.

Composites are made up of individual materials referred to as constituent materials. There are two
main categories of constituent materials: matrix (binder) and reinforcement. At least one portion of
each type is required. The matrix material surrounds and supports the reinforcement materials by
maintaining their relative positions. The reinforcements impart their special mechanical and
physical properties to enhance the matrix properties. A synergism produces material properties
unavailable from the individual constituent materials, while the wide variety of matrix and
strengthening materials allows the designer of the product or structure to choose an optimum
combination.

Engineered composite materials must be formed to shape. The matrix material can be introduced
to the reinforcement before or after the reinforcement material is placed into the mould cavity or
onto the mould surface. The matrix material experiences a melding event, after which the part
shape is essentially set. Depending upon the nature of the matrix material, this melding event can
occur in various ways such as chemical polymerization for a thermoset polymer matrix, or
solidification from the melted state for a thermoplastic polymer matrix composite.

Composite materials used in tensile structures for facade application provides the advantage of
being translucent. The woven base cloth combined with the appropriate coating allows better light
transmission. This provides a very comfortable level of illumination compared to the full
brightness of outside.

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1.2 Reason for adopting Composites:
Composites have many benefits to their selection and use. The selection of materials depends on
the performance and intended use of the product the composite designer can tailor the performance
of the end product with proper selection of the materials. A summary of the benefits are as follows

1. Light weight and Corrosion resistance

2. High strength to weight ratio

3. Directional strength

4. Dimensional stability

5. Low thermal conductivity

1.3 Types of composites

Polymer Matrix Composite:

Polymer matrix composites are recognized to be a more conspicuous class of composites when
contrasted with artistic or metal lattice composites once in business requisitions.

It includes a matrix from thermoplastic (polystyrene, nylon) or thermosetting (epoxy, unsaturated

polyester) or and inserted steel, glass carbon, or Kevlar strands.

Thermoplastic polymer is the polymer which are over and again diminished and transformed by
heating. A few illustrations of thermoplastics are PVC, LDPE and HDPE. Thermoplastic materials
are shaped when they are in softened or melted. Thermoplastic have numerous properties, for
example, light weight, low thickness, which is relying on science they could be similar to elastic
and strong as aluminum.

Thermosetting polymer is the polymer which has hard and firm cross- interfaced materials.
Epoxy is the most normally utilized thermosetting polymer. They have numerous advantages, for
example, better grip to different materials, great mechanical properties, and great electrical
protection.

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Fibrous Composite Materials:

This composite consists of fibers in a matrix form. Long fibers in various forms are inherently
much stiffer and stronger than the same material in bulk form. The paradox of a fiber having
different properties from the bulk form is due to the more perfect structure of a fiber in a matrix.
Compared with the strength of bulk materials, man made filament fibrous filaments or non-
polymeric materials exhibits much higher strengths along their lengths since large flaws. Which
may be present in the bulk material are minimized because of the small cross sectional dimensions
of the fiber.

Resin:

The primary functions of the resin is to transfer stress between the reinforcing fibers, acts as a glue
to hold the fibers together and protects from the environmental damage. Resins are divided into
two major groups known as thermoses and thermoplastic. Thermoplastic resins become soft when
heated and may be shaped or molded while in heated semi-fluid state and become rigid when
cooled.

Thermoset resins on the other hand are usually liquids or low melting point solids in their initial
form. When used to produce finished goods these thereto setting resins are “cured " by use of
catalyst , heater combination of the both , when cured solid thermosets can't be converted to
original liquid form . The most common thermosetting resins used in the composite industry are
the unsaturated polyesters, epoxies, vinyl esters and phenol.

Additives and modifiers:

A wide variety of additives are used in the composites to modify the material properties and tailor
the laminates performance.

Additive functions: Additive used in thermoset and thermoplastic composites include the follows:

1. Low shrink/low profile

2. Fire resistance

3. Emission control

4. Viscosity control

5. Electrical conductivity and Toughness

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1.4 Classifications of Composite Materials:

Most composite materials developed have been fabricated to improve mechanical properties
such as strength, stiffness and high-temperature performance. The strengthening
mechanism strongly depends on the geometry of the reinforcement.

COMPOSITE MATERIALS

Fiber reinforced composites Particle-reinforced

(Fibrous composites) (Particulate composites)

Random Preferred

Single layer composites Multilayer composites

Laminates Hybrid

Continuous fiber reinforced Discontinuous fiber reinforced Composite

Composites

Undirectional Bidirectional
Reinforcement Reinforcement Orientation Preferred

Fig. 1.1 Classification of composite orientation

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1.5 Properties of Composites:

1. High wear resistance

2. High tensile strength at elevated temperatures

3. High toughness

4. composites can be specially formulated with high toughness and high damping to reduce these
load inputs.

5. Impact loads or vibration

6. Some composites can have much higher wear resistance than metals.

7. Corrosion resistance

8. Anisotropic – bi-directional properties can be design advantage.

1.6 Application of Composites:

Commercial and industrial applications of fiber reinforced composites are diverse and varied.
Some of these applications are ships and submarines, aircrafts and spacecrafts, trucks and rail
vehicles, automobiles, robots, civil engineering structures Prosthetic device.

Composite materials have found applications in almost all branches of engineering. The usage of
composites can be further divided in to following application areas. This division is based on the
design and functional requirements.

1. Aerospace applications

2. Land transport applications

3. Marine vessels and structures

4. Building and construction industry

5. Chemical plants and Corrosion resistant products

6. Electrical, Electronics and Communication applications

7. Machine elements and energy applications

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8. Commercial products and sports goods

9. Bio-medical applications

10. Marine field

Marine field:

Use of composites in the marine field is growing steadily since the early 1950s. Potential
applications in the marine field ranges from small components such as radar Dooms, masts and
piping to large scale structures submersible and off shore structure modules. Glass reinforced
plastics are extensively used in the construction of boat halls including life boats, yachts, dinghies,
canoes, speed boats and passenger launches. The popularity of GRP with boat builders lies in its
competitive low cost.

Aircraft & space:

FRP with epoxy as a resin is used for the manufacture of helicopter blades. One of the main
reasons why FRP is used for rotor blades is the ability of the material to tailor dynamic frequency
of the blade to its operating parameter. Some of the application areas of FRP to spacecrafts are
Antennas, booms, support trusses and struts.

Automotive field:

FRPs have been used in many parts of the car. The exterior part of the car such as hood or door
panels requires sufficient stiffness. The other requirement is that it should offer maximum
resistance to dent formation. Resins like polyurethanes enable the damage tolerance to be limited
to acceptable values. Further, a good surface finish is highly desirable. Applications of FRPs
include chassis components as well as corvette rare leaf spring.

Sporting goods:

Many sporting goods are made of FRPs now a day. One of the major advantages of using FRP is
the reduction of weight. Tennis rockets are made as sandwich structure. FRP with carbon or boron
fiber as the skin and the core are formed by soft and light urethane foam which enables the
structure to have a weight reduction without any decrease in stiffness.

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 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE SURVEY

 A recent survey on emerging technologies has given the composite materials one of the top
ten fields in engineering.
 The increasing use of composite materials in structural and space applications generated
considerable interest for the development of techniques to predict the response under
various loading conditions.
 The technology has progressed to a stage where newer composite materials are being
considered, on an experimental basis for numerous applications in various fields. Such as
aircraft, satellite launching vehicles, racket missiles, railways, automobile, energy,
construction, infrastructure, medical, biomedical, marine, sports etc.
 As composite laminates are constructed by stacking several unidirectional layers in
specified sequence of orientation.
 Hence, the failure of a single layer does not give the total failure of laminate. However, it
leads to progressive failure of the laminate.
 The common modes of failure in the composite materials are crack growth, fibre breakage
and de lamination. Hence the study of crack growth behaviors in composite laminate is of
special significance.
 The literature survey has shown that for the material considered here, then given the
constituent properties, the fiber arrangement and the fiber volume fraction, the composite
mechanical properties may be determined mathematically by the use of micromechanical
equations.
 The micromechanical prediction of the mechanical properties of uni-directional, random
and woven fiber reinforced composites has been examined. The variation of these
mechanical properties that may occur in a composite component due to the manufacturing
process has been highlighted as being of importance. This has been studied to determine
whether such a variation is significant by analyzing examples of composite components
and plates.
 The results from these analyses have been correlated with experimental results and
investigated to study the importance of such variations in properties. Many
micromechanical equations have been found in the literature for the prediction of the

7
 mechanical properties of continuous fiber reinforced composite materials.
 An accuracy of the predicted properties to within 10% of the experimental data was
concluded to be acceptable and good enough for initial design purposes as design engineers
are not usually able to design to such tight tolerances. This work has shown that further
development of the micromechanical theories is not the most important problem
concerning the prediction of the mechanical properties.
 These properties can currently be predicted with acceptable accuracy from the
micromechanical equations already available in the literature. However, the design
engineer is unlikely to have knowledge of the micromechanical equations necessary to
determine the required properties.
 It is only by undertaking a large literature survey that the designer would be able to find
this information. Many of the micromechanical equations require the use of an empirical
factor.
 The knowledge of a value for such a factor is again something that would not be readily
available to the designer. Rather than concentrating upon improving the micromechanical
predictions, this work shows that effort should be made to understand the influence of other
factors upon the mechanical properties of composite materials.
 In particular, the behavior and flow of the material during the manufacturing process has
been highlighted as being of importance as it can cause a significant variation in the
properties. Thus, analyses of composite components cannot assume that the mechanical
properties are constant throughout, and it is therefore necessary to first model the
manufacturing process to determine the mechanical properties before undertaking a
structural analysis.
 Composite materials are widely used in the industry because of their superior mechanical,
thermal, and chemical properties, e.g. high stiffness-to-weight and strength-to-weight
ratios, corrosive resistance, low thermal expansion, vibration damping.
 As a further advantage, composite materials offer a great flexibility in design, allowing
change of the material system in many ways. Configurations of a laminate, i.e. fiber
orientation, ply thickness, material of each ply, stacking sequence, type and volume
fraction of reinforcement can be tailored to make a better use of material or attain a desired
property like strength, elastic modulus, thermal and electrical conductivity, thermal
expansion coefficient.
 One may thus significantly decrease the weight of a structure by optimizing the design of

8
 the composite material itself, or increase its performance using the same amount of
material. However, the traditional approach of designing by trial and error, which heavily
relies on designer’s experience and intuition, promises little success with a huge number of
design variables.
 For that reason, development of optimization methodologies incorporating structural
analysis methods and search algorithms is necessary. Accordingly, optimum design of
composites drew the attention of many researchers.
 With the increasing use of fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) composites outside the defense,
space and aerospace industries, namely, civilian industries, machining of these materials is
assuming a significant role.
 Unit cost rather than solely performance at any cost will be the consideration for the
implementation of FRP composites to consumer industries. The current knowledge of
machining FRP composites, unfortunately, is inadequate for its optimum utilization in
many applications.
 This paper presents some observations made on the orthogonal machining of unidirectional
carbon fiber reinforced plastic (UD-CFRP) laminates with different fiber orientations.
Iosipescu shear test was adopted to evaluate the inplane shear strength of varied fiber angle
test specimens. A model for predicting the cutting forces and the dependence of cutting
direction on machinability requirements is presented.
 Composite laminates (CFRP, GFRP, and fiber metal composite laminates) are attractive for
many applications (such as aerospace and aircraft structural components) due to their
superior properties. Usually, mechanical drilling operation is an important final machining
process for components made of composite laminates.
 However, composite laminates are regarded as hard-to-machine materials, which results in
low drilling efficiency and undesirable drilling-induced delamination. Therefore, it is
desirable to improve the cost-effectiveness of currently-available drilling processes and to
develop more advanced drilling processes for composite laminates.
 Such improvement and development will benefit from a comprehensive literature review
on drilling of composite laminates.

CHAPTER 3

9
 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

3.1 PROCESSING OF COMPOSITES

An extensive range of well established processing methods is available for composites. These vary
from simple labor intensive methods suitable for one off products to automated methods for
producing large numbers of complex components. The method of processing selected by
manufacturer depends on factors such as shape, cost, number of components and required
performance.

3.2 CONTACT MOULDING:

3.2.1 Mould preparation:

By far the most common method of fabrication for large structures such as ship hulls is contact
moulding in an open female mould using cold curing polyester resin and E- glass reinforcement.
The first step in the fabrication process is the mould preparation. For small to medium structures,
moulds are usually fabricated in GRP, in which case a male plug, commonly of wooden
construction finished in GRP, is first assembled whose external shape defines the structure to be
built very large and moulds for ship construction may be of steel or aluminum construction lined
with an epoxy paste or similar filler to allow fairing out of welded distortions.

Mould preparation is usually completed by Wax polishing and application of poly vinyl alcohol
(PVA) or an equivalent release agent lamination is usually started by application of a pigmented
gel coat of- good quality resin, deposited in mould by brush or spray (to a thickness between (0.3-
0.5) the main purpose of which is to provide a smooth external surface Lamination is then
continued before the gel code as fully cured, using one of the following two methods- spray-up or
hand lay-up.

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 Fig. 3.1 Aluminium mould Fig. 3.2 Aluminium sheet

3.2.2 HAND LAYUP PROCESS:

The most popular type of Open Moulding is Hand Layup process. Hand Layup is a manual, slow,
labour consuming method, which involves the following operations. The mould is coated by a
release anti-adhesive agent, preventing sticking the moulded part to the mould surface. The prime
surface layer of the part is formed by applying gel coating. A layer of fine fibre reinforcing tissue
is applied. Layers of the liquid matrix resin and reinforcing fibres in form of woven fabric, rovings
or chopped strands are applied. The resin mixture may be applied by either brush or roll. The part
is cured (usually at room temperature).The part is removed from the mould surface. The
disadvantages of the Hand Layup method are: low concentration of reinforcing phase (up to 30%)
and low densification of the composites (entrapped air bubbles). The second stage is performing
the tensile test, rockwell hardness test, micro hardness test, fracture test, water absorption test. By
performing these tests, mechanical properties of the composite material are determined.

Fig. 3.3 Hand lay-up Process

3.3 Materials and equipment

1. Aluminium mould (180*180*4mm)
2. Woven E-glass fibre
3. Aluminium plate
4. Thinner
5. Waxpol

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 6. Epoxy resin
7. Hardener
8. Silicon Carbide powder
9. Beakers, Brushes, Containers
10. Stir rods, Soft sheets
11. Weights, Hand gloves

Fig. 3.4 Woven E-glass fibre

3.4 PROCEDURE:
Basically there are two main stages that were carried out to achieve the objectives of this study.
First stage was the Preparation of composite material by mixing the epoxy resin and glass fiber
with SiC as filler material. Secondly, finding the mechanical properties by performing tensile test,
wear test, three point bend test,etc. Firstly, preparation of composite material is carried out in an
aluminium mould having dimensions of 180*180*4mm and cleans it with a thinner. Next, mixture

12
of epoxy resin, hardener and sic powder is prepared according to the composition. Then, 3 layers
of woven E-glass fibre of 18*18mm are placed in the aluminium mould. Before that, make sure
that the aluminium mould is applied with sufficient waxpol. Gently pour the mixture of resin and
sic onto the layers of the glass fiber. Fill the mould with the mixture and make sure that the glass
fibre is thoroughly supplied and slowly mix it until the fibre is dissolved into it. Place the
aluminium sheet and some weights over it. A duration of 14- 16 hours is given for hardening of the
sample. After that, remove the sample composite material from the mould. This, process is
repeated for making other samples with the change in the composition.

Table 3.1 Composition of the samples

Samples % Resin % Fibre %Sic

A 60 36 4
B 60 32 8

3.5 TENSION TEST

In any design work, it is important to consider practically realizable values of strength of the
materials used in the design. The tension test is one of the basic tests to determine these practical
values. The other tests being impact test, endurance or fatigue test, compression test, torsion or
shear test. The tests are conducted on specimen prepared out of randomly selected materials from
the supplier's lot and therefore they also act as a quality test for acceptance of the material by the
buyer.The range of values obtained from the tests forms the basis for the size of the material in the
products for the factor of safety. The tension test is conducted on a universal testing machine at
room temperature. It is carried out by stretching a standard specimen gripped at both ends. The test
specimen is subjected to a gradually applied tensile load with the help of hydraulic system and the
load is measured by a pendulum dynamometer.

The stretch undergone by the specimen is measured by an elongation scale with a least count of 1
mm fixed to the loading unit for every increment in the load. The simple stress and strain
developed in the gauge length portion is calculated using the formulae.

Stress (σ) = Load /original cross sectional area

Strain (e) =Increment in length / original gauge length

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Description of the Equipment:

The machine comprises of a loading unit (or straining unit), control panel, Hydraulic system,
pendulum dynamometer, load indicating system and load-elongation recording system.

Loading Unit (or straining Unit):

It consists of a hydraulic cylinder & piston mounted on a robust base. The loading frame consists
for an upper cross head, middle cross head and lower table. The upper cross head and lower table
are connected by means of two plain hard chrome plated columns. The middle cross head is fitted
on two hard chrome plated threaded columns. A reduction gear motor drives the chain and
sprockets fixed at the bottom of the threaded columns for height adjustment. An elongation scale
with least count of 1 mm is provided for measurements of deformation on various samples.

Tensile test is conducted by gripping the tests specimen between the upper and middle crosshead.
Compression and Bending tests are conducted between the middle crosshead and the lower table.

Control Panel:

The control panel consists of the hydraulic system, complete with drive motor, oil sump, pendulum
dynamometer and load indicating system. Two valves on the control panel one at the right side and
the other one at the left side are used to control the oil flow in the hydraulic system. The right side
valve is a pressure cum flow control valve and the left side valve and the left side valve is a return
valve to allow the oil from the cylinder to go back to the tank.

Hydraulic System:

The power pack has a directly driven pump which generates a maximum pressure of 20 MPa. The
hydraulic pump produces a continuous oil flow. Hence the load application is very smooth. Oil
filter, strainer, oil level indicator and drain plug are provided in the power pack. A pressure
compensated flow control valve to the main cylinder ensures a constant rate of piston movement

14
and hence straining rate is kept constant. This valve hand operated and gives infinitely variable oil
flow to obtain different rate of straining.

Pendulum dynamometer:

The oil pressure in the main linden also actuates the cylinder special dynamometer system.
Pressurized oil in the loading cylinder pushes up the measuring piston proportionately and deflects
the pendulum. The piston is constantly rotated to eliminate friction. It has an effective damping
arrangement to ensure smooth return of pendulum after sudden breakage of test specimen.

Load is applied by a hydrostatically lubricated ram. The oil pressure in the main cylinder is
transmitted to the cylinder of the pendulum dynamometer housed in the control panel; the
dynamometer piston exerts a force proportionate to the hydraulic pressure. This force is transferred
through a leverage system to a pendulum. Displacement of pendulum actuates the rack and pinion
mechanism which operates the load indicating pointer. Return movement of pendulum is
effectively damped to absorb energy in the event of sudden breakage of specimen.

Load indicating System:

This system consists of a large dial and a pointer. Displacement of pendulum actuates the rack and
pinion mechanism, which operates the load indicating pointer. The pointer moves over a large dial
indicating load. A dummy pointer is provided to register the maximum load reached during the
test.

Load-Elongation recording system:

A continuous roll (A strip chart) type load-elongation recorder is provided for plotting load-
elongation graph. Horizontal movement of the rack produces load ordinate of the diagram and
drum rotation represents elongation. A roll of graph paper fixed to the drum and the recording pen
is inserted before starting of experiment.

Procedure:
Measure the original gauge diameter (d) and gauge length (4d) of the specimen by means of a
vernier calipers & steel rule respectively. Mark gauge length by two tiny dots using a dot punch.

15
Grip the test specimen vertically and firmly between the upper crosshead jaws of the UTM by
operating the hard wheels provided on the above two crossheads. Adjust the machine to read zero
on the elongation scale by opening the left control valve and closing the right control valve. Select
the load measuring range according to the capacity of the test piece by operating the load selector
knob present on the right side of the control panel. If the test specimen is composite material,
choose the suitable load range. Fix the pen in the penholder of the load elongation recording
system. Adjust the load indicating pointer (black needle) and dummy pointer (red pointer) to zero
position in the dial of the control panel before conducting the actual test. Now close both the left
control valve and right control valve completely. To apply the load on the specimen press the
pump "on" button existing on the control panel and then immediately start opening right control
valve gradually. While opening the right control valve, the left control valve should be completely
closed the load will not be applied on the specimen. Increase the load on the specimen gradually at
equal intervals opening the right control valve and then record the corresponding increase in length
of the specimen from the elongation scale provided at the load elongation recording system.
Continue loading the specimen till the yield point is reached. This is indicated by the elongation
scale showing high values of extension for the same amount of increase in load. After yield point
reached, continue to apply the load till fracture of the specimen occurs.

Fig. 3.5 Universal testing machine

3.6 THREE POINT BENDING TEST

Flexural strength and stiffness are not basic material properties. They are the combined effects of a
material’s basic tensile, compressive and shear properties. That is, when a flexural loading is

16
applied to a specimen, all three of the material’s basic stress states are induced. Material failure,
then, is dictated by which of the three basic stresses is the first to reach its limiting value — that is,
its strength. Despite the obvious complexities implied by the above, flexural testing is common,
the test specimen is easy to prepare, the fixture can be simple and the test itself is easy to perform.

Normally, the specimen is loaded while in a horizontal position, and in such a way that the
compressive stress occurs in the upper portion and the tensile stress occurs in the lower portion of
the cross section. If the specimen is symmetrical about the midplane of its cross section (e.g.,
rectangular), the maximum tensile and compressive stresses will be equal. Thus, whether the
specimen fails in tension or compression simply depends on which strength value is lower. For
most, but not all, composites, the compressive strength is lower, and thus the specimen will fail at
the compression surface. Typically, this compressive failure is associated with the local buckling
(micro-buckling) of individual fibers.

Both three-point and four-point loading configurations are used. Three-point loading consists of a
support point near each end of the beam and one load point at the midspan. For four-point loading,
there are two load points at equal distances from the support points. This distance is typically one-
fourth of the span length (thus, the term quarter-point four-point loading), but a distance of one-
third of the span length (third-point four-point loading) is sometimes used. Relatively little
difference in test results has been demonstrated between three-point and four-point loading, so the
choice between the two typically is one of personal preference.

Because it is usually desirable to test at a specific ratio, a general-purpose flexure test fixture has
to have adjustable support and loading spans to accommodate specimens of various thicknesses. A
fixed-span fixture is thus limited to specimens of a specific thickness if a specific ratio is to be
adhered to. Note that the fixture in has radiuses supports and loading points. When the specimen is
loaded, the bottom surface is in tension, and thus becomes longer, causing the specimen to slide on
the two supports. The frictional forces generated at the bottom surface are directed toward the
midspan, so as the specimen deflects downward these frictional forces add to the bending of the
specimen. This typically has a small effect, but can be of concern, as can the wear on the test
fixture when the specimen slides.

The common alternative to a fixture with radiuses supports is to support a cylinder in a V-groove.
Although friction between the cylinder and the V-groove usually prevents the cylinder from
rotating as the specimen is loaded, the cylinder can be made of much harder material than the

17
remainder of the test fixture to resist wear. Also, if the cylinder is not permanently attached but
instead held in place by springs or other removable restraints, the cylinder can be rotated to a fresh
contact surface if it shows signs of wear. An added benefit is that cylinders of other diameters can
be used, although this is limited by the size of the V-groove. Although one can mount the cylinder
ends in ball or roller bearings, the latter tend to be bulky and have limited load capacity, so they
also find only special use.

A more practical approach is to use rolling supports. These roll outward as the specimen deflects
and the loading rollers roll inward. Although this changes the loading and support span lengths
slightly, the change is typically small and, thus, usually ignored. The rolling supports eliminate
sliding friction and reduce wear. And if the initial position of the roller is dictated by indexing an
axle of fixed diameter against a stop rather than indexing the roller itself against the stop, an
important secondary advantage is that rollers of a relatively large range of diameters can be used
with the same fixture, without affecting the support (and loading) span scales that are typically
engraved on the test fixture. Perhaps greater use will be made of rolling supports in the future.

Typically, all three or four loading/support points lie in the same horizontal plane. Thus, if the
specimen has any twist along its length, or has top and bottom surfaces that are otherwise not flat
and parallel to each other, it will not rest uniformly on the contact surfaces. For flexible materials,
this is not a significant problem because as soon as the load is applied, the specimen readily
conforms to the supports, and in doing so, induces minimal extraneous stresses. For rigid
materials, however, this might not be true. In such cases, articulated test fixtures are used. All but
one of the support/loading cylinders is free to pivot in the vertical plane across the width of the
specimen, thus conforming to the slope of the specimen at that location. Immediately after the
specimen breaks, press the pump off switch on the control panel, close the right control valve and
then open the left control valve slowly to release the load. Broken specimen is removed from the
machine. By joining the two broken halves of the specimen final length between the gauge points
and gauge diameter at the neck of the specimen is measured by using a steel rule and vernier
calipers respectively. Yield point, ultimate tensile strength, % elongation, % reduction in area and
modulus of elasticity are calculated.

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 Fig. 3.6 Three point bending machine

3.7 Wear test

Immediately prior to testing, and prior to measuring or weighing, clean and dry the specimens.
Take care to remove all dirt and foreign matter from the specimens. Use non- chlorinated, non-
film-forming cleaning agents and solvents. Dry materials with open grains to remove all traces of
the cleaning fluids that may be entrapped in the material. Steel (ferromagnetic) specimens having
residual magnetism should be demagnetized. Report the methods used for cleaning. Measure
appropriate specimen dimensions to the nearest Insert the disk securely in the holding device so
that the disk is fixed perpendicular to the axis of the resolution. Insert the pin specimen securely
in its holder and, if necessary, adjust so that the specimen is perpendicular to the disk surface
when in contact, in order to maintain the necessary contact conditions. Add the proper mass to the
system lever or bale to develop the selected force pressing the pin against the disk. Start the
motor and adjust the speed to the desired value while holding the pin specimen out of contact with
the disk. Stop the motor. Set the revolution counter (or equivalent) to the desired number of
revolutions. Begin the test with the specimens in contact under load. The test is stopped when the
desired number of revolutions is achieved. Tests should not be interrupted or restarted. Remove
the specimens and clean off any loose wear debris. Note the existence of features on or near the
wear scar such as: protrusions displaced metal, discoloration, micro-racking, or spotting. Repeat
the test with additional specimens to obtain sufficient data for statistically significant results.

19
 Fig. 3.7 Wear testing machine

Table 3.2 Sample details

Sample Wt % of Initial Action

fibre weight(gms) load(kgf)

1 36 0.48207 1

2 32 0.44245 1

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 CHAPTER 4
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
This section focuses on presenting the observations and findings gathered during the Course of
experiments. The data analysis provides the basis and justification for the Conclusion drawn in this
study. Two type of experiments were carried out which are tensile test for determining mechanical
properties and hardness test for determining resistance to plastic deformation of the composites.

4.1 Mechanical properties:

The mechanical properties of woven E-glass fibre reinforced composites are expectedly depend on
the content of the fibre in the composite. Even a small change in the physical nature of fibres for a
given weight content of fibre may result in distinguished changes in the overall mechanical
properties of composites. Therefore the influence of fibre content on mechanical properties of
woven E-glass fibre reinforced composites with different composition was investigated.

4.1.1 Tensile strength:

Table 4.1 Test specimen details

Sample % of fibre Size(mm)

1 36 180 x 25 x 4
2 32 180 x 25 x 4

Table 4.2 Tensile strength of GFRP composite

Sample % of fibre % of SiC Tensile

strength(N/mm2)
1 36 4 77.84
2 32 8 68.77

Table 4.2 represents the result of mechanical properties of woven E-glass fibre reinforced
composites with a change in the fibre weight. It is shown that the tensile strength increased with
increase of the fibre weight percentage. The increment is due to interfacial bonding between fibres
and matrix. The brittleness of the fibres also contributed to high mechanical strength because
higher fibres contain higher possibilities to sustain higher loads.

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 Fig. 4.1 Graphical representation of obtained Tensile strength values

4.1.2 Three point bending test:

Table 4.3 Test specimen details

Sample Fibre content(%) Size (mm)

1 36 180 x 25 x 4
2 32 180 x 25 x 4

Table 4.4 Flexural strength of GFRP composite

sample % of fibre % of SiC flexural strength(N/mm2)

1 36 4 135.2
2 32 8 143.6

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 Displacement

Fig. 4.2 Graphical representation of load vs displacement (SAMPLE 1)

Displacement

Fig. 4.3 Graphical representation of load vs displacement (SAMPLE 2)

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4.1.3 Wear test results:

Table 4.5 Test specimen details

sample Fiber Initial Final Heigh Diameter(

% weight weight t(cm) mm)
(gms) (gms)

1 36 0.482 0.473 2.2 4.9

2 32 0.443 0.442 2.2 4.9

Table 4.6 wear of the specimen

Sample Fiber % SiC % Wear (um)

1 36 4 10
2 32 8 8

Time (sec)

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 Fig. 4.4 Graphical representations of wear rate Vs time (sec) of sample 1 & 2

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

This experimental examination of mechanical behavior of woven E-glass fiber based epoxy
composites indicates to the many conclusions:

1. The fabrication of woven E-glass fiber based epoxy composites with different
loading of fiber is possible by hand lay-up process.
2. From the current experiments results, it has been observed that fiber loading has
major effect on the mechanical properties of the composites like tensile strength and
wear.
3. The results found that the mechanical properties have a strong association with the
dynamic characteristics. Both of the properties are greatly dependent on the weight
percentage of fiber. The composites having woven E-glass fibers weight of 36%
showed a significant result compared to lower fiber loading composites due to the
effect of material stiffness.
4. By the experimental characteristics it was clearly observed that the woven E-glass
fiber matrix material is best suitable for structural and non structural applications.

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 CHAPTER 6
REFERENCES
 K. K Chawla, Composite Materials
 Kulkarni A. G., Rohatgi P. K., Satyanarayana K. G., Sukumaran K., Pillai S. G. K.,
Fabrication and Properties of Fiber-Reinforced Polyester Composites, Composites,
17 (1986), pp. 329-333.
 Aziz M. A., Mansur M .A, Study of Bamboo-Mesh Reinforced Cement
Composites, International Journal of Cement Composites and Lightweight
Concrete, 5 (1983), pp.165- 171.
 Mohini M. S., Muhammad P., Carbon Storage Potential in Natural Composites,
Resource Conservation and Recycling, 39 (2003), pp. 325-340.

 Shibata S., Cao Y., Fukumoto I., Lightweight Laminate Composites made from
Kenaf and Polypropylene Fibres, Polymer Testing, 25 (2006), pp. 142–148.

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