EFFECT OF TYPE AND FILLER LOADING ON THE STATIC MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF GLASS-BASALT HYBRID FABRIC REINFORCED EPOXY COMPOSITES

Fiber-reinforced polymer composites (FRPCs) are rapidly gaining market share in structural applications, but further growth is limited by their lack of toughness. Fiber hybridization is a promising strategy to toughen composite materials. By combining two or more fiber types, these hybrid composites offer a better balance in mechanical properties than single fiber reinforced composites. This work concerns the production of glass-basalt hybrid fiber reinforced composite with and without different micro fillers like graphite and Polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE). All the composites were fabricated by hand layup technique followed by compression molding. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength, flexural modulus and inter laminar shear strength have been investigated in accordance with ASTM standards. From the experimental investigations, it has been found that loading of graphite filler to glassbasalt hybrid fiber reinforced composites shows superior mechanical performance compared to unfilled and PTFE filled composites. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) photomicrographs of the fractured samples revealed various aspects of the fractured surfaces. The failure modes of the tensile and flexure fractured surfaces have also been reported. Keywords—Fiber-reinforced polymer composites, Graphite, Polytetrafluoroethylene, Scanning electron microscopy.