Thermo-mechanical correlations to erosion performance of short glass/carbon fiber reinforced vinyl ester resin hybrid composites

This paper focuses on the erosion of fibre reinforced hybrid composites consisting of vinyl ester resin and short E-glass/carbon fiber (1: 1) at different fiber weight fractions (from 20 wt.% to 50 wt.%). A plan of experiments is carried out to investigate the optimal level of control factors using Taguchi orthogonal arrays design that lead to minimization of erosion rate. The steady state erosion responses of these composites are investigated with respect to impingement angle, impact velocity and erodent size by keeping other factors constant. The dynamic mechanical properties were evaluated to determine possible correlation with erosion rate of these composites. The storage modulus (E') steadily increases up to 3927 MPa for 40 wt.% fiber, but on further increase in the fiber content, the E' value decrease to 3321 MPa at 0 degrees C. The maximum storage modulus was obtained at 40 wt.% of fiber contents which may be due to the maximum stress-transfer between the fibers and matrix. Cole-Cole plot of hybrid composites was made at different fiber contents to evaluate the heterogeneity of the system. Finally, a wicket plot is also studied to observe the material behavior, in terms of relaxation of materials. The worn surface of composites were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to observe the mechanism of erosion. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.