AN EFFECT OF POLYMER MATRIX ON MECHANICAL PERFORMANCE OF LAMINATES REINFORCED WITH GLASS FIBRE
Mateusz Kozioł
Quarterly No. 4, 2010 pages 317-321
DOI:
keywords: polymer matrix, polyester resin, vinylester resin, epoxy resin, mechanical performance, GFRP laminate, stitched laminate
abstract The paper presents an effect of mechanical properties of: epoxy, vinylester and polyester matrix resins on mechanical performance of laminates reinforced with glass fabric (0/90° layout), classic and stitched, manufactured by RTM method. Applied resins are Polish products: ESTROMAL 14 LM - 01 (polyester), POLIMAL VE 2MM (vinylester), EPIDIAN 53 (epoxy). Evaluation of mechanical properties of the resins was based on: tensile, bending and Charpy impact resistance tests. Performance of the composites was evaluated in: static bending (Rg), interlaminar shear () and Charpy impact resistance (u) tests. It was found that sort of applied matrix significantly affects a mechanical performance of the laminates: classis and stitched as well. Among tested resins the best mechanical performance showed the epoxy matrix (Rm = 41 MPa and Rg = 77 MPa). The best performance showed also its composites (Rg = 588 MPa, = 16,4÷19,3 MPa, u = 202 kJ/m2). Epoxy resin has also the highest deformability among three tested resins (z = 3,8%), which is essential quality affecting advantageously mechanical performance of its composites. It gives possibility of better effort of reinforcing fibres and of the stitches in stitched laminates. Thereby it improves a failure process. It was found that vinylester matrix composites are only insignificantly inferior in terms of mechanical performance when compared with the epoxy ones, in spite of big difference in deformability (difference in z by about 45%). It was also found that irrespective of matrix sort, stitching of the laminates has advantageous influence on interlaminar shear strength () and disadvantageous effect on impact resistance (u) and flexural strength (Rg) of the laminates.