A comparative study of the mechanical performance of Glass and Glass/Carbon hybrid polymer composites at different temperature environments

Abstract

Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) composites have been widely accepted as high strength, low weight structural material as compared to their metallic counterparts. Some specific advanced high performance applications such as aerospace components still require superior specific strength and specific modulus. Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) composites exhibit superior specific strength and modulus but have a lower failure strain and high cost. Hence, the combination of both glass and carbon fiber in polymer composite may yield optimized mechanical properties. Further the in-service environment has a significant role on the mechanical performance of this class of materials. Present study aims to investigate the mechanical property of GFRP and Glass/Carbon (G/C hybrid) composites at room temperature, in-situ and ex-situ temperature conditions. In-situ testing at +70oC and +100oC results in significant loss in inter-laminar shear strength (ILSS) for both the composites as compared to room temperature. The ILSS was nearly equal for both the composite systems tested in-situ at +100oC and effect of fiber hybridisation was completely diminished there. At low temperature ex-situ conditioning significant reduction in ILSS was observed for both the systems. Further at -60oC G/C hybrid exhibited 32.4 % higher ILSS than GFRP. Hence this makes G/C hybrid a better choice of material in low temperature environmental applications.