OPTIMIZATION OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF E-GLASS WOVEN FABRIC COMPOSITE

Abstract

Manufacturing of composite material has been an extensive area of research as they have high strength-to-weight ratio that are equivalent or superior to many metallic materials. This paper describes the preparation of E-Glass (woven fabric) Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite (GFRP) with different fiber mat material, orientation and resin. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of the process parameters on the mechanical properties of GFRP composite using Taguchi experimental design in combination with Grey Relational Analysis (GRA). The conclusion revealed that fiber orientation and resin were the most influential factor on the mechanical properties, respectively. It is observed that the optimum properties were obtained at 400 fabric mat, polyester resin, 45°/–45°orientation.