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Journal of Polymer & Composites Original Research

Tensile and Flexural Strength Quantification of Basalt-Reinforced Epoxy Composites Fabricated via Vacuum-Assisted Resin Transfer Molding at Varied Fiber Volume Fractions Description

  1. Kiran Kumar M Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sir M Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology
  2. K.Chandra Sekhar Department of Mechanical Engineering, QIS College of Engineering and Technology, Ongole
  3. Jasira Banu. A Department of Garment Designing, PSGR Krishnammal College for Women, Coimbatore
  4. Prasadaraju.Kantheti Department of Mechanical Engineering, S.R.K.R Engineering College, Bhimavaram
  5. P. M. Karandikar Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pravara Rural Engineering college, Loni
  6. R. Shivashankar Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sree Sakthi engineering college, Coimbatore

Abstract

Fiber-reinforced polymer composites have been identified to possess excellent properties that render them very suitable in the aerospace, automotive, marine and renewable energy sectors. However, for the industrially scalable vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) process, optimization of mechanical properties of basalt epoxy composites must be achieved systematically, which means that the effect of the fibre volume fraction(VF) on the mechanical properties of the composite needs to be quantified for different fabrics with similar or different fibre types, with fibre VFR ranging from 30% to 60% and then panels were fabricated and subjected to comprehensive tensile and flexural tests according to ASTM standards, accompanied by a detailed microstructural analysis of the tested samples by FESEM and a void fraction measurement based on the density measurement. Basalt-epoxy composites were observed to have tensile and flexural strengths of 238 MPa and 295 MPa, respectively, which are 22% and 20% higher than the base line glass-epoxy properties, respectively, with an exceptionally low void fraction of 1.1%. The improvements are as a result of the improved interfacial bonding and reduced porosity. The results set a processing guideline for manufacturing high performance, defect minimized basalt-epoxy laminates and make VARTM basalt composites as a viable alternative sustainable material to traditional glass-Fiber material in the future for lightweight structural application.

Keywords

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