Preparation and Characterization of TiO2 Particulate Filled Polyester Based Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite
Polyester based glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites are widely used in marine and automotive industries because of its strength to weight ratio with lower price. In order to have the better properties of GFRP composites, the particulate filler material titanium oxide (TiO2) was added in unsaturated polyester resin with the fiber reinforcement by hand lay-up process. The fiber content was kept at 35 wt% constant with the fiber length of 5 cm. The particulate was varied with 2 wt. %, 4 wt. %, 6 wt. %, 8 wt. %, and 10 wt. %. Experiments were carried out to study the mechanical properties like tensile strength, impact strength, and Rockwell hardness. The chemical resistance analysis (CRA) was carried out by weight loss method. The mechanical properties of the hybrid reinforced composites were improved due to the fiber content with increased particulate content. The influence of the particulate content was more pronounced in the chemical resistance.