An Experimental Investigation on Fabrication and Testing of Mechanical Properties of Composite Material Containing Epoxy Resin and Silicon Rubber

Abstract

A composite material is a blend of two or more materials to get qualities of high caliber than the constituents present in it. These materials cannot be only used in structural appositeness but also to find relevancy in various other fields like aerospace, automobile, springs and bumper systems, turbine blades, etc. Fiber reinforced plastics are broadly used in various engineering applications because of their custom made properties but are flammable. To meet the requirements of increasing demands of market and with safety as an important factor, a successful atte mpt was made in making a polymer based composite which is less flammable and has better mechanical properties. In this study, to improve the mechanical properties such as flexural and tensile strength of neat composites of epoxy resin some modification were done to the composite by adding silicone rubber to it, the inclusion of the later led to increased mechanical strength. The manufacture of the composite was done through wet hand lay-up process and was left for curing at room temperature. Composites were cured for overnight and tests for the desired properties were conducted after curing. The composites were tested for flexural and tensile strength tests along with bending load and tensile load on a universal testing machine. As a result, there was an increase in mechanical strength of flexural and tensile, bending load and tensile load. The comparisons of both composites are made in this study as a part of results.