Study on mechanical properties of fly ash impregnated glass fiber reinforced polymer composites using mixture design analysis

This paper describes the mechanical behavior of fly ash impregnated E-glass fiber reinforced polymer composite (GFRP). Initially the proportion of fiber and resin were optimized from the analysis of the mechanical properties of the GFRP. It is observed that the 30 wt% of E-glass in the GFRP without filler material yields better results. Then, based on the optimized value of resin content, the varying percentage of E-glass and fly ash was added to fabricate the hybrid composites. Results obtained in this study were mathematically evaluated using Mixture Design Method. Predictions show that 10 wt% addition of fly ash with fiber improves the mechanical properties of the composites. The fly ash impregnated GFRP yields significant improvement in mechanical strength compared to the GFRP without filler material. The surface morphologies of the fractured specimens were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The chemical composition and surface morphology of the fly ash is analyzed by using Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and Scanning Electron Microscope. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.