A comparative study on the interlaminar shear strength of S-glass/epoxy composites containing borax, perlite and sewage sludge ash particles

In this study, the influence of borax (Bx), perlite (Pr), and sewage sludge ash (SSA) particle inclusion on interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) properties of S-glass/epoxy composites was experimentally investigated. The purpose of current study was to examine the effects of particle content and type of the fillers on ILSS properties with analyzing interfacial bonding and agglomeration aspects. The properties of ILSS were characterized by using the short beam shear (SBS) test procedures in accordance with ASTMD2344 standard. Epoxy resin was used as main toughening material, and it was modified with incorporating micro-scale particles of Bx, Pr and SSA at different weight ratios between epoxy and filler. The weight contents for the Bx and SSA fillers were in the ratios of 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt%, while the weight contents of the Pr filler were 0, 1, 3, 5, 10 wt%. Experimental results from SBS tests confirmed that incorporation of Bx filler exhibited the highest ILSS value with 44.6% improvement at 10 wt% when comparing unmodified GFRP samples as a result of particle bridging effects. For other types of the fillers, the highest improvements in ILSS values were recorded as 29.1% at 10 wt% and 42.6% at 1 wt% for SSA and Pr fillers, respectively.