DEPARTMENT OF AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA

SEMESTER 1 2022/2023

ADVANCE COMPOSITE MATERIAL (EAS 4404-1)

ASSIGNMENT 1
MICROMECHANICS OF LAMINA

NAME: SHARIFAH NURIN ZAHIRAH BT SYED ZAINAL ABIDIN

MATRIC NO: 200501
QUESTION 1

Based on the properties given for both the fiber and matrix constituents, assess the effect of the
fiber volume fraction, Vf, on the Young’s modulus and tensile strength of the composite material.
Discuss your findings and limitations (validity) of the predictions.

Table 1: Properties of E-glass fiber yarn and Epoxy matrix

Ans:

In this experiment, 3 specimens with different volume fractions are tested. The volume fraction,
vf and volume fraction matrix, v m for the 3 specimens are tabulated as below.

Table 2: The volume fraction, v f and volume fraction matrix, v m for the 3 specimens
Specimen Volume fraction, v f Volume fraction matrix, v m
1 0.7 0.3

2 0.8 0.2

3 0.9 0.1

The longitudinal Young’s Modulus and transverse modulus for each specimen are obtained
by using the formula below.

Longitudinal Young’s Modulus:

𝐸𝑙 = 𝑣𝑓 𝐸𝑓 + 𝑣𝑚 𝐸𝑚 ……….. Eq. 1

Transverse modulus:
𝐸𝑚 𝐸𝑓
𝐸𝑡 = ……………. Eq. 2
𝑣 𝑚𝐸𝑓 +𝑣 𝑓𝐸𝑚
By substituting the values of v f and vm in Table 2 and the values of Young’s Modulus given in
Table 1 into Equation 1 and Equation 2, the values of longitudinal Young’s Modulus and
transverse modulus for each specimen are calculated and tabulated as below:

Table 3: Values of Logitudinal Young’s Modulus and Transverse Modulus for each specimen

Specimen Longitudinal Young’s Modulus, El Tranverse Modulus, Et (GPa)

(GPa)
1 54.14 9.49

2 61.42 13.34

3 68.71 22.78

The tensile strength of the specimens is calculated using the formula below:

𝜎𝑙 = 𝑣𝑓 𝜎𝑓 + 𝜎𝑚 (1 − 𝑣𝑓 )

By substituting the values from Table 1 and Table 2, the values of tensile strength for each
specimen are given as below:

Table 4: The tensile strength of each specimen

Specimen Tensile strength, σ l (MPa)

1 2427.8

2 2766.9

3 3105.9

From the calculations, it is observed that the higher the value of the Young’s Modulus, the
higher the tensile strength of the specimen. However, as the volume fraction, v f increases,
failed wetting might occur which may degrade the strength of the composite.
QUESTION 2

Mechanical performance can be reduced due to many factors. Among them are the lack
of spacing between fibers and compacting of fibers that reduced adhe sion between fiber
and matrix and subsequently leads to inefficient load transfer and henced reduced
performance. Therefore, will be a maximum fiber volume fraction, Vf where performance
is optimized.

Assuming that the fibers are arranged in a square array,

• Conduct a literature review on the ideal spacing for sufficient matrix wetting
• Suggest the best spacing distance based on your findings and
• Propose the optimized fiber volume fraction and determine the corresponding
Young’s modulus and tensile strength.

Ans:

- Based on a study by Liu et al., the ideal spacing for sufficient matrix wetting can vary which
are 3mm, 4mm and 5mm. This is due to more uniform fiber distribution which will increase
the effectiveness of the contact area and the infiltration between the fibres and matrix.

- From the research, it is proven that the spacing of 3mm is the best as it has the highest
value of tensile strength compared to the others which is 225.4MPa.

- To increase the tensile strength of the composite, high fiber volume fraction is used.
Assuming fiber volume fraction, vf = 0.7, the Young’s Modulus and the tensile strength are
calculated as follows:
Longitudinal Young’s Modulus:
𝑣𝑓 = 0.7

𝑣𝑚 = 0.3

𝐸𝑙 = 𝑣𝑓 𝐸𝑓 + 𝑣𝑚 𝐸𝑚

𝐸𝑓 = 76 𝐺𝑃𝑎 (E-glass fibre)

𝐸𝑚 = 3.12 𝐺𝑃𝑎 (Epoxy)

𝐸𝑙 = (0.7)(76) + (0.3)(3.12)

𝐸𝑙 = 54.136 𝐺𝑃𝑎
Tensile strength

𝜎𝑙 = 𝑣𝑓 𝜎𝑓 + 𝜎𝑚 (1 − 𝑣𝑓 )

𝜎𝑓 = 3445 𝑀𝑃𝑎

𝜎𝑚 = 54.54 𝑀𝑃𝑎

𝜎𝑙 = (0.7)(3445) + (54.54)(1− 0.7)

𝜎𝑙 = 2427.862 𝑀𝑃𝑎
QUESTION 3

Finally, you need to validate your theoretical analysis with tensile test. To do that, you
want to fabricate a rectangular composite sample with the dimensions that can
accommodate 5 samples for tensile test (please refer to ASTM D3039 for sample sizing
for 00 unidirectional fiber direction, aligned to the direction of loading). Use the fiber volume
fraction that you determine in (2). Calculate the respective mass of fiber and epoxy that
you need.

Ans:

From ASTM D3039

Vc = 0.625 cm³
ρf = 2.54 gm/cm3
ρm = 1.1 gm/cm3

𝑣𝑓 = 𝑉𝑓 𝑣𝑐

𝑣𝑓 = (0.7)(0.625)

𝑣𝑓 = 0.4375 𝑐𝑚³

𝑣𝑚 = 𝑉𝑚 𝑣𝑐
𝑣𝑚 = (0.3)(0.625)

𝑣𝑚 = 0.1875 𝑐𝑚³

Mass matrix:
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑒 = 𝜌𝑓 𝑣𝑓

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑒 = (2.54)(0.4375)

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑒 = 1.11 𝑔

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑥 = (1.1)(0.1875)

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑥 = 0.20625 𝑔

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑒 = 1.11 + 0.20625

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑒 = 1.31626 𝑔
Reference

Liu, X., Qu, Y., Li, G., Zhou, Q., Wang, G., You, J., Su, R., & Li, R. (2019). Effect of
fiber bundles spacing on mechanical properties of 2D-CF/Al Composites.
Materials Research Express, 6(7), 076523. https://doi.org/10.1088/205 3-
1591/ab13bd