Physical analysis and statistical investigation of tensile and fatigue behaviors of glass fiber-reinforced polyester via novel fibers arrangement

Abstract

Polymer composite researchers have extensively explored the influences of fiber orientation, volume fraction, type, length, as well as the impacts of matrix type, matrix/reinforcement interface, fibers hybridization, and nanoparticle incorporation on the mechanical behaviors of fiber-reinforced composite materials. The impacts of tailored fiber architectures on the mechanical characteristics of bulk polymeric-based composites, on the other hand, have not been investigated. The purpose of this research is to determine the effect of fiber arrangement on the mechanical characteristics of glass fiber-reinforced polymeric materials (GFRP). Unreinforced (UR) polyester, surface reinforced arranged (SRA) composites and bulk reinforced arranged (BRA) composites were fabricated. Characterizations have been performed using scanning electron microscope rotating bending fatigue machine and a universal testing machine. Results demonstrate that SRA’s lifespan after being exposed to bending fatigue has increased significantly with respect to UR and BRA samples. Average fatigue life for SRA samples is 61 times longer than the life of BRA samples at 56 MPa bending stress. Furthermore, a Weibull distribution function with shape parameter and scale parameter was implemented to analyze the fatigue life dataset statistically. The introduction of SRA novel design has promising results for cost reduction as well as quality improvement.