Aluminum particles effect of mechanical properties on fiberglass-reinforced polymer

Abstract

This study investigates the behavior of epoxy resin reinforced by aluminum particles to study some mechanical properties of metal-reinforced polymer composites (PMCs). Firstly, preparation of an epoxy sample, then the reinforcement of the matrix by 5% weight fraction of glass-fiber, then preparation of hybrid samples with 5% weight fiber glass + different concentrations of aluminum, and
finally testing tensile, flexural, hardness, and impact properties of the samples in order to test the mechanical properties of the samples. The main reason for selecting this study is as a practical application of plastic natural gas (CNG) cylinders, which consist of epoxy and glass fibers. Reinforced these materials with aluminum powder to improve their properties and to study the effect of the weight fraction of aluminum on some mechanical properties. The results showed that the mechanical properties (tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, flexural strength, flexural modulus, hardness, impact strength, and flexural toughness) increased when increasing the concentrations of reinforcing. The composite materials have the highest value of these properties (EP+5% Eglass+0.98% Al) compared with other percentages.