Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

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Mechanical properties of polymer matrix composites: Effect of

hybridization
K.C. Nagaraja a,⇑, S. Rajanna b, G.S. Prakash c, G. Rajeshkumar d
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Acharya Institute of Technology, Karnataka, India
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government Engineering College, Karnataka, India
c
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Karnataka, India
d
Department of Mechanical Engineering, PSG Institute of Technology and Applied Research, Tamil Nadu, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The current work involves the development and mechanical characterization of polymer composites pre-
Available online xxxx pared by the use of glass fibers and micronized rubber powder fillers reinforced in epoxy matrices. The
composites were prepared by keeping weight fraction of matrix as 50% and varied the wt% of the rein-
Keywords: forcements using hand layup technique. The results revealed that, 40 wt% of E-Glass and 10 wt% of micro-
Polymer-matrix composites nized rubber powder filler reinforced composites yields better mechanical properties.
Epoxy Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Glass fiber
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 3rd International Conference on
Mechanical properties
Rubber powder
Recent Advances in Material Chemistry, ICRAMC 2019.

1. Introduction reinforcements. Moreover, due consideration is given to the sec-

Due to their unique properties, thermoplastic and thermoset
polymers have been used in a variety of light-duty engineering
applications such as aircraft, automotive, construction and elec-
tronic components [1–5]. Though these composites offer good
properties, they are brittle. Hence, the crack initiation and propa-
gation take place rapidly. In order to solve these problems, rein-
forcing fibers in polymers leads to the development of polymer
matrix composites. In general, carbon and E-glass fibers are com-
monly used reinforcements in the development of polymer matrix
composites with excellent mechanical properties [6,7]. In order to
enhance the mechanical properties further, second reinforcements
are added results in the development of hybrid composites [8–10].
The epoxy based composites additionally reinforcing with microm-
eter sized rubber particles, enhanced the mechanical properties up
to 10–15 times, without compromising the other properties [1,11].
Furthermore, the addition of these secondary reinforcements
greatly reduced the crack growth and increased the fatigue life of
the composites [12].
Similarly, few literatures reported that the mechanical perfor-
mance of the composites was enhanced by adding the secondary
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: nagarajkc15@gmail.com (K.C. Nagaraja).
ondary reinforcements in terms of availability, cost, properties
and environmental friendly [13–17]. In this work, the MRP filler
was used as an additional reinforcement along with the E-Glass
fiber to enhance the mechanical properties and to reduce the cost
of the composites. To optimize the wt% of Micronized Rubber Pow-
der (MRP) for better mechanical properties, the wt% was varied in
four steps and the properties were determined.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Matrix and hardener
The thermoset polymers such as polyester, vinyl ester and
epoxy are used for the manufacture of Polymer Matrix Composites
(PMCs) for several engineering applications. In particular, epoxy
resins are the most commonly used substrates for many research-
ers because of their good mechanical properties and hygroscopic-
ity, corrosion resistance, versatility and durability. For this study,
LY556 epoxy resin and its own amine based hardener HY951 were
used as the matrix system. They were mixed in a weight ratio of
9:1 and cured better by using a mechanical stirrer for 10 min.
According to the data sheet, the densities of the epoxy resin and
the hardener are 1.15–1.20 g/cm3 and 0.97–0.99 g/cm3,
respectively.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.03.108
2214-7853/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 3rd International Conference on Recent Advances in Material Chemistry, ICRAMC 2019.

Please cite this article as: K. C. Nagaraja, S. Rajanna, G. S. Prakash et al., Mechanical properties of polymer matrix composites: Effect of hybridization, Mate-
rials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.03.108
2 K.C. Nagaraja et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

2.2. Reinforcements Table 2

Composition details of prepared composite laminate.

The E-Glass fibre in the form of woven mat with 0.4 mm thick- Sample code Epoxy (wt %) Glass fiber (wt %) Filler (wt %)
ness was procured from Suntech Fiber Private Limited (Bengaluru, S1 50 50 0
India) was used as the reinforcement material for preparing com- S2 50 45 5
posites. In addition to E-Glass fiber the MRP was used as reinforce- S3 50 42.5 7.5
ment material. This MRP is made from vulcanized elastomeric S4 50 40 10
S5 50 37.5 12.5
material. For this present investigation, the MRP was obtained S6 50 35 15
from life ended automobile tyres.

2.3. Preparation of composites

The composite samples required for the study were prepared

using a simple hand lay-up technique. First, a release gel is sprayed
onto the surface of the mold to prevent adhesion of the matrix
material. Then thin plastic sheets were pasted on the top and bot-
tom surface of the mold to obtain good surface finish on the com-
posites. The MRP was mixed with the resin by manual stirring.
Place the E-glass mat on the mold and pour the resin. The closed
mold was held at room temperature for 24 h for curing. Finally,
the cured composite panel was taken out of the mold and samples
were prepared according to ASTM standards.

Fig. 1. Tensile strength of composites.

2.4. Mechanical testings

Mechanical tests, such as tensile, bending, compression and

hardness tests, are performed according to ASTM standards, as
shown in Table 1. Five samples were tested in each case and the
average was recorded as the mechanical properties of each com-
posite. Various composite materials and their names are shown
in Table 2.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Tensile strength
3.2. Flexural strength
Fig. 2 depicts the flexural strength of various composites, and
notes that as the MRP content increases, the flexural strength
increases to 10 wt% and decreases with further addition of MRP.
The maximum flexural strength of the S4 composite is
238.85 MPa, which is 36%, 22%, 12%, 8% and 11% higher than the
S1, S2, S3, S5 and S6 composites, respectively. Similar to tensile
strength the flexural strength was also higher for S4 composites
due to the influence of optimum wt% of MRP and it was suggested
for various engineering applications.

The tensile strength of all composites was presented in the

3.3. Compression strength
Fig. 1. It is was noted that the tensile strength of the S1 composite
was 144.95 MPa, and it increased to 10% by weight as the amount
Fig. 3 shows the compressive strength of all prepared compos-
of MRP added increased. Further, increase in MRP content
ites, and similar to the tensile and flexural strengths observed,
decreased the tensile strength of the composites as expected. This
the compressive strength also increased to 10 wt% as the MRP con-
may be due to the lower mechanical properties of MRP compared
tent increased. Due to poor mechanical properties of MRP when
to E-glass fibers [1]. The maximum tensile strength of the S4 com-
compared to E-glass fiber, the compression strength decreased if
posite is 191.54 MPa, which is 32% higher than that of the S1 com-
it was increased beyond 10 wt%. Adding 10 wt% of MRP has
posite. This increase in tensile strength is obtained due to the
synergistic effect of E-glass fibers and MRP reinforcing materials.
Furthermore, it is noted that the difference in tensile strength
between the S3 and S4 composites is 6.055 MPa, which indicates
that increasing the MRP to above 7.5 wt% does not significantly
affect the tensile strength of the composite. However, from an eco-
nomic point of view, S4 composites are recommended for engi-
neering applications because of the lower cost of MPR compared
to E-glass fibers.

Table 1
ASTM standards.

Mechanical test ASTM standard Specimen size (mm3)

Tensile ASTM-D638 150  20  3
Flexural ASTM E-399 125  12  3
Compression ASTM-D575 50  12  3
Hardness ASTM-D785 25  25  3
Fig. 2. Flexural strength of composites.

Please cite this article as: K. C. Nagaraja, S. Rajanna, G. S. Prakash et al., Mechanical properties of polymer matrix composites: Effect of hybridization, Mate-
rials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.03.108
 K.C. Nagaraja et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
Fig. 3. Compression strength of composites.
Fig. 4. Hardness of composites.
increased the compression strength of E-Glass fiber reinforced
composites to a value of 20.31 MPa.
3.4. Hardness
It can be seen from Fig. 4 that the hardness value of the compos-
ite increases as the MRP content increases. When 5% by weight of
MRP was added together with E-glass fibers, considerable hardness
increased, but the addition of 7.5, 10, 12.5 and 15% by weight of
MRP together with E-glass fibers showed a very small increase in
hardness value However, from economical point of view S4 com-
posites were suggested for applications where hardness property
of a material plays a significant role.
4. Conclusions
The hybrid composite laminate was developed successfully by
using hand layup technique and the hybridization effect of
Please cite this article as: K. C. Nagaraja, S. Rajanna, G. S. Prakash et al., Mechanical properties of polymer matrix composites: Effect of hybridization, Mate-
rials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.03.108
3
reinforcements was investigated. The experimental results
revealed that the addition of 10 wt% of MRP significantly increased
the mechanical properties. This reduces the E-Glass fiber content in
the composites. Hence, this composite was suggested for various
engineering applications in the view of higher mechanical proper-
ties and economical.
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