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International Journal of Current Science and Technology

Vol.3, Issue, 10, pp. 104-106, October, 2015

ISSN: 2320-8090
RESEARCH ARTICLE
CHARACTERIZATION OF FRP COMPOSITE MATERIALS
Veera Sudarsana Reddy R*
Narayana Engineering College Gudur, SPSR Nellore (Dt) Andhra Pradesh, India

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article History: Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites are gaining acceptance for use in different fields of
Received 10th September, 2015 engineering due to its light weight, strong corrosion resistance and better mechanical properties
Received in revised form 12th September, compared to conventional materials. The selection of matrix and reinforcement for fabrication of
2015 any FRP composite product mainly depends on the properties of matrix and reinforcement.
Accepted 15th October, 2015 Two types of thermoset resin systems namely Isophthalic polyester and Vinylester were collected
Published online 28th October, 2015 from three manufacturers and tested for the mechanical properties of both liquid and cast resin
properties. Two types of glass fiber reinforcement product forms such as WRM 610 gsm and UDC
880 gsm, were used for making laminates. The tensile properties of glass fibers were obtained
Key words: by conducting standard tests. Tests were conducted to find the flexural, tensile and shear properties
xxx of GFRP composite laminates that had been made with WRM 610 gsm and UDC 880 gsm with
vinylester and isophthalic resin systems. The results were presented and suggestions for the
selection of resin and reinforcement for making a fiber reinforced polymer composite product
were given based on the test results.

Copyright 2015 Veera Sudarsana Reddy R., This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

laminates. The viscosity, relative density and gel time for

INTRODUCTION liquid resin were determined as per IS: 6746-1994 and peak
exotherm was determined as per BS: 2782-Method 111D.
Fiber reinforced polymer composite material contains a matrix
The ultimate tensile strength and the tensile modulus,
system with reinforcing fibers. In most engineering
ultimate flexural strength and flexural modulus and
applications, these materials are used in the form of
water absorption were obtained for cast resin by testing the
laminates, which consist of layers of various lamina. The
standard test specimens, as per BS: 2782-Method 320C, ISO:
increasing use of composite materials in structural
178-1975(E), BS: 2782- Method 121A and ISO: 62-1980(E)
applications lead to a corresponding increase in the need
respectively. The tensile properties of glass fibers were
for experimental data and test methodology of composite
obtained by casting and testing five standard test specimens
materials has received considerable attention in recent years.
using the INSTRON testing machine as per ASTM: D 2343-
The complex nature of data required for the design of FRP
67. The flexural strength and modulus of GFRP composite
components need to critically evaluate the composite test
laminates were determined by casting and testing five standard
methods. The aim of this present investigation is to determine
test specimens as per ISO: 178-1975(E). The tensile strength
the properties of matrix, reinforcement and GFRP composite
and modulus of GFRP composite laminate were calculated
and also to study the influence of type of resin (Isophthalic
by casting and testing five standard test coupons as per ISO:
polyester/vinylester) and reinforcement (WRM 610 gsm/UDC
3268-1978(E). The shear modulus of GFRP composite
880 gsm) on the mechanical properties of composite laminate.
laminate was obtained by casting and testing five standard test
specimens as per 450 coupon test. Electrical resistance strain
Test Specimens and Test Details gauges were used for determining the strains and Poissons
ratio of GFRP laminate. The fabricated specimens and test
Thermoset resins such as Isophthalic polyester and
set-up for determining the tensile properties and shear
Vinylesters were collected from three manufacturers and
modulus were shown in Figs.1 and 2 respectively.
tested for liquid and cast resin properties. The accelerator,
catalyst and promoter used in the study were cobalt
naphthanate, Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide (MEKP) and RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
dimethyl amine respectively. Two types of ECR glass fiber
reinforcements namely WRM 610 gsm and UDC 880 gsm The liquid resin properties of both Isophthalic polyester and
were used as reinforcement for making GFRP composite vinylester resin were shown in Table 1. Tensile properties
of glass fibers were shown in Table 2. Tensile and flexural
*Corresponding author: Veera Sudarsana Reddy R Narayana properties of cast resin were shown in Tables 3 and 4
Engineering College Gudur, SPSR Nellore (Dt) Andhra Pradesh, respectively. The percentage of water absorption of cast
India resin and GFRP composite specimens were shown in Table 5.
 International Journal of Current Science and Technology Vol.3, Issue, 10, pp.104-106, October, 2015

The flexural and tensile properties of GFRP composite Table 6 Flexural Properties of GFRP Laminate
laminate with WRM 610gsm as reinforcement were shown in
Tables 6 and 7 respectively. Tensile properties and shear Isophthalic Polyester Resin Vinylester Resin
Parameter
M-1 M-2 M-3 M-1 M-2 M-3
modulus of GFRP composite laminate made by vinylester Bending Strength
resin and WRM 610 gsm/UDC 880 gsm were shown in Table 280 297 273 334 384 273
( MPa)
8. Graphs were plotted between stress and strain for GFRP Flexural Modulus
14052 12397 12135 17380 20452 14113
composite, cast resin and glass fiber reinforcement for tension (MPa)
test specimens and were shown in Figs 3, 4 and 5 respectively.
Table 1 Properties of Liquid Resin
Manufacturer-1 Manufacturer-2 Manufacturer-3
(M-1) (M-2) (M-3)
Property
Iso Iso Iso
Vinylester Vinylester Vinylester
phthalic phthalic phthalic
Viscosity
380 315 564 276 492 254
(CP)
Relative
1.092 1.053 1.112 1.058 1.105 1.08
Density
Gel Time
18 19 46 19 16 7
(Minutes)
Peak
Exotherm 148 118 145 129 148 168
( 0C)
Figure 3 Stress Vs Strain for GFRP Laminate in Tension Test
Table 7 Tensile Properties of GFRP Laminate
Isophthalic Polyester Resin Vinylester Resin
Parameter
M-1 M-2 M-3 M-1 M-2 M-3
Ultimate Tensile
255 229 209 333 238 195
Strength ( MPa)
Poissons Ratio 0.20 0.12 0.18 0.24 0.16 0.15
Tensile Modulus
(MPa) 18067 16115 13918 27618 20287 18104

Table 8 Properties of GFRP Laminate

Reinforcement
Sl.No. Property
WRM610 gsm UDC 880 gsm
Figure 1 GFRP Tension Test Figure 2 Tension Test Ultimate Tensile Strength in 1-
Specimen Setup 1 Direction (MPa) 333 407
Ultimate Tensile Strength in 2-
Table 2 Tensile Properties of Glass Fibers 2 Direction (MPa) 368 34
Gauge Load at Failure Youngs 3 Poissons Ratio 0.24 0.24
Percentage Failure
Sl.No. Length Failure Stress Modulus
Elongation Strain 4 Youngs Modulus, E1 (MPa) 27618 27039
(mm) (kN) (MPa) (GPa)
1 255 3.044 2.8 1808 0.0256 70.636 5 Youngs Modulus, E2 (MPa) 22959 12793
2 255 3.277 2.9 1946 0.0275 70.651 6 Shear Modulus, G12 (MPa) 2631 2464
3 255 2.895 2.8 1719 0.0252 68.129 Weight density ( N/mm3)(X10-5)
7 1.55 1.67
4 255 3.048 2.8 1810 0.0256 70.596
5 255 2.858 2.6 1697 0.0240 70.652

Table 3 Tensile Properties of Cast Resin

Isophthalic Polyester Resin Vinylester Resin
Parameter
M-1 M-2 M-3 M-1 M-2 M-3
Ultimate Tensile
44 44 50 41 29 35
Strength (MPa)
Tensile Modulus
1621 1605 1969 1235 1214 1387
(MPa)

Table 4 Flexural Properties of Cast Resin

Isophthalic Polyester Resin Vinylester Resin
Parameter
M-1 M-2 M-3 M-1 M-2 M-3
Bending Stress
65 48 59 68 15 58
( MPa)
Flexural Modulus
2127 2022 2521 2543 1439 2679
(MPa)
Figure 4 Stress Vs Strain for Cast Resin in Tension Test
Table 5 Water Absorption of Cast Resin and GFRP The relative density and peak exotherm of vinylester
Composite Specimens resin from manufacturer-1 (M-1) were less compared to
% Water Absorption vinylester resin supplied by manufacturers. The relative
Type of Resin Cast Resin GFRP Composite density and peak exotherm of isophthalic polyester resin
M-1 M-2 M-3 M-1 M-2 M-3 supplied by all the three manufacturers were more than the
Isophthalic
Polyester
0.13 0.13 0.12 1.77 2.45 0.07 Vinylester resin. The percentage of water absorption of cast
Vinylester 0.08 0.09 0.15 0.05 0.06 0.09 vinylester (M-1) resin specimens was 0.01-0.07 percentage
less compared to isophthalic resin and vinylester resin from
105
 Characterization Of Frp Composite Materials
other manufacturers.
Figure 5 Stress Vs Strain for Res in, Reinforcement and FRP
Composite
Tensile strength and modulus of cast vinylester resin from
M-1 were high, and also the flexural strength and modulus
of cast vinylester (M-1) resin well comparable with
isophthalic resin and vinylester resin from other two
manufacturers. The tensile strength and modulus, and flexural
strength and modulus, of GFRP composite laminate made
using vinylester resin from M-1and WRM 610 gsm were high
and well comparable with the corresponding properties of
composite laminate made using vinylester/Isophthalic resin
from other manufacturers and WRM 610 gsm as a
reinforcement. For the same vinylester resin the weight
density of GFRP composite laminate made of WRM 610 gsm
was less compared to laminate made using UDC 880 gsm.
Also tensile strength , youngs modulus, and shear modulus in
1 and 2 direction of GFRP laminate made using vinylester
resin and WRM 610 gsm were greater than those laminates
made using same vinylester resin and UDC 880 gsm.
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106
CONCLUSIONS
Based on the test results it was found that the GFRP laminate
made using vinylester resin from manufacturer-1 and ECR
glass WRM 610 gsm showed better mechanical properties,
good water resistant capabilities and light in weight. Based
on the test results it is suggested to use the vinylester
resin with WRM 610 gsm for making lightweight GFRP
composite product with desired tensile, flexural, shear and
water resistant properties.
References
1. James M Whitney, Issac M. Daniel and R.Byron Pipes,
Experimental Mechanics of Fiber Reinforced Composite
Materials, 1 st ed. The Society for Experimental Stress
Analysis, Brookfield Center, Connecticut, p 185
2. Indian Standard, Unsaturated Polyester Resin Systems-
Specification , IS6746: 1994 Bureau of Indian
Standards, New Delhi
3. Methods of Testing Plastics, BS 2782:1970, British
Standards Institution Gr13, London, WIA
4. International Standard, Plastics-Determination of
Flexural Properties of Rigid Plastics, ISO 178-1975 (E)
5. International Standard, Plastics-Glass Reinforced
Materials-Determination of Tensile Properties, ISO
3268-1978 (E)
6. Standard Test Method for Tensile Properties of Glass
Fiber Strands, Yarns, And Rovings Used in Reinforced
Plastics, ANSI/ASTM D 2343 67
7. British Standard Method of Testing Plastics Part-10,
Glass Reinforced Plastics, Method 1003, Determination
of Tensile Properties
8. International Standard, Plastics- Determination of Water
Absorption, ISO 62-1980(E).