Fabrication and characterization of multi layer kevlar reinforced composites

Abstract

The composite materials are finds its application in various engineering field owing to its light weight and high strength. The composite materials consist of two physically distinct materials on combining form a new material with superior properties. The property of composite is largely depends on the constituent material which are called matrix and reinforcement. Among various types of composites, a laminated polymer composite which is prepared using the reinforcement material in the form of woven fibers stacked together with the addition of matrix material. In the present work, the laminated polymer composite prepared with fiber lamina is considered for improving its mechanical properties. The epoxy resin is used as matrix phase for all categories of prepared composites in this research work. In all categories of composite, the volume percentages of reinforcement and the matrix are maintained as 60% and 40% respectively. The strengthening of K49 based composites is done using two cases, one by strengthening the matrix phase and the other by strengthening the reinforcement phase. The preparation of laminated composite is carried out using Vacuum Bag Moulding (VBM) method and the specimens are cut out from the master laminate following ASTM standards using water jet machining. The strengthening of epoxy resin matrix is done by the addition of nano fillers such as Titanium dioxide (TiO2), Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) and Graphite (GR) with epoxy resin in different weight percentages of 2, 4 and 6. In view of determining the effect of Nano Filler (NF) addition, the composite without addition of any nano fillers has been prepared for purpose of comparison newline