MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

1. ANALYSIS OF MECHANICAL
PROPERTIES OF BASALT, CHOPPED E-
GLASS FIBER REINFORCED WITH
EPOXY RESIN and GRAPHITE POWDER

2. ABSTRACT
• Six types of fiber reinforced composites are prepared
from the different combinations of Basalt, Chopped E-
Glass reinforced with epoxy resin and Graphite powder.
Composites are pure basalt , e-glass with chopped mate
,basalt +e-glass with chopped mate and basalt + e-glass
with chopped mate along with graphite powder
variations of 5g,10g,15g. These materials are analysed
for mechanical properties like Tensile Strength, Flextural
Strength, Impact strength. Now to determine the best
composite based on strength.

3. LIST OF CONTENTS
• 1.INTRODUCTION
• 2.MATERIALS
• 3.FABRICATION OF SPECIMENS
• 4.TESTING OF COMPOSITES
• 5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
• 6.CONCLUSIONS

4. introduction
• Two constituent materials which are having different mechanical, physical and
chemical properties are bonded will produce a material with different
characteristics from the individual material is called a composite material.
• The two constituents are reinforcement and matrix .The reinforcement and
matrix are the main load carrying elements in a composite material. This
matrix can maintain the alignment of fiber, shape. The reinforcement can
improve the strength of the material.

5. MATERIALS
• A hard, dense volcanic rock that can be found in most
countries across the globe, basalt is an igneous rock,
which means it began in a molten state.
• Basalt fiber is a material made from extremely fine
fibers of basalt.
A) BASALT FIBER

6. • E-Glass is a low alkali glass with a typical nominal
composition of SiO2 54wt%, Al2O3 14%, CaO+MgO 22%,
B2O3 10% and Na2O+K2O less then 2%.
• This E-glass will be taken in the form of Chopped mat as
shown in figure below.
B) CHOPPED E-GLASS

7. BASALT FIBRE & E GLASS properties

8. c) Epoxy resin
• Epoxy resins are a family of thermoset plastic materials which do not give off reaction
products when they cure and so have low cure shrinkage.
• Here, epoxy LY556 is used as matrix material.
• Epoxy LY556 is chosen because it is a one suchmatrix which is extensively used because
it exhibit low shrinkage, higher mechanical properties, easy fabrication, excellent
chemical and moisture resistance, good wet ability.

9. d) HARDENER ARALDITE HY951:
• Araldite HY951 is the name of the hardner which we
used.
• Hardener was used as a binder during the fabrication.
• It has low viscosity, cure at room temperature, good mechanical strength,
Good resistance to atmospheric and chemical degradation.
• The other materials used are Epoxy resin and Graphite
powder.

10. FABRICATION OF SPECIMENS
• Hand lay-up technique is the simple and cheapest method of composite
processing.
• The mold is prepared on smooth clear film with 2 way tape to the required
measurement.
• The reinforcement in the form of long fiber are cut as per the mold size and
placed on the surface of thin plastic sheet.
• Then the thermosetting polymer is assorted thoroughly in appropriate
proportion with a hardener and spread with the help of brush.
• Based on composition, different layers will be placed on one another.

11. • This Thermosetting polymer with hardner combination will be spread between
every two layers of the sheets.
• The consequential mold is cured for 24 hours at room temperature.
• Hand lay process will be as shown in figure below

12. • Sheets will be added upto specific thickness required for specific test.
• The materials taken to fabricate the specimens are Basalt, E-glass and
Graphite powder. These are taken in the different ratios and different
combinations.
• Six different specimens are prepared by this Hand layup process.
• In three of six Specimens prepared, Graphite powder added in varying
conditions as 5g, 10g, 15g.
• This graphite powder will be weighed and added to the combination of
epoxy resin and hardener.
• These six different composites are tested for the impact strength, tensile
strength, flexural strength and hardness.

13. BEFORE CUTTING THE SPECIMENS

14. Testing of composites
• A 2-ton limits electronic tensometer METM 2000 ER-1
model is used to determine the elasticity of composites.
• Its capability can be changed by burden cells of 20 kg, 200
kg and 2 ton. A burden cell of 2 ton is used for testing
composite specimens.
• Specimens of 165 mm long, 12.5 mm wide and 4 mm thick
dimensions will be prepared.
• These specimens will be tested under specific conditions.
A) TENSILE TESTING OF COMPOSITES

15. B) FLEXURAL TESTING OF COMPOSITES
• Three point bowing test will be carried out to find
flexural properties of the composite.
• This will be done on the Tensometer which is also known
as Universal Testing Machine.
• The specimens dimensions are 100 mm long , 25 mm wide and 4 mm thick.
• In three point bowing test, the external rollers are 70 mm separated and specimens are
subjected at a strain rate of 0.2 mm/min

16. • Both Tensile and Flexural testing of composites will be
conducted on the Electrical Tensometer.
• Tensometer is also known as Universal Testing Machine.

17. c) Impact testing of composites
• Impact tester will be used for this testing.
• This process is also known as Charpy V-notch Test.
• The specimens to be examined are of dimensions 63.5mm long, 12.36mm wide and
6mm in thick.
• Based upon the volume portion of the specimen, one of the four sledges (R1, R2, R3,
and R4) must bechosen to break the specimen.
• The pendulum sledge is released from locking position, the specimen is stripped and
energy is demonstrated in joules by the pointer on the particular scale.

18. D) HARDNESS TESTING OF COMPOSITES
• The specimens were prepared for Rockwell-B hardness test, the specimen is of 25mm
diameter and a length of 20mm.
• The hardness properties of the composites are studied by applying indentation load
normal to fibers diameter and normal to fiber length.

19. AFTER TESTING
a) After Tensile strength Test b) After Flexural strength Test
c) After Impact strength Test d) After Hardness Test

20. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
• The properties of the pure basalt , e-glass with chopped mate ,basalt
+e-glass with chopped mate and basalt + e-glass with chopped mate
along with graphite powder variations of 5g,10g,15g.under this
investigation are presented in below Tables &figures respectively
• This includes evaluation of tensile strength, flexural strength, impact
strength and hardness number.
• Based on the tabulated results, various graphs are plotted and
presented.

21. FOR TENSILE TEST PROPERTIES

22. FOR FLEXURAL TEST PROPERTIES

23. FOR IMPACT TEST PROPERTIES

24. FOR HARDNESS TEST PROPERTIES

25. CONCLUSION
• The present work has been done with an objective to explore the use of plain
woven basalt, plain woven E-Glass fiber chopped mate and basalt/E-glass
chopped mate, basalt/E-Glass chopped mate with Graphite power variation
5%,10%,15%, are manufactured using hand lay-up method. Epoxy is used as
matrix in the reinforced composite.
• This work is focused to find the best composite among the six combinations.
After all the tests has performed on the specimens the basalt/E-Glass chopped
mate shows a best result in the tensile strength and as well as impact strength &
hardness test And the flexural strength favors basalt/E-glass chopped mate with
graphite powder 15g composite . For the above investigations we are proposed
the BASALT+E GLASS EPOXY WITH CHOPED MATE having good mechanical
properties when comparing with other results.