An experimental investigation on mechanical properties of SiC particle and sisal fibre reinforced epoxy matrix composites

In the present work, the effect of SiC particle addition on mechanical behaviour of sisal fibre/epoxy composites was investigated. The epoxy composites were prepared by using hand layup technique. During the processing of composites, the fixed amount of sisal fibre and different amounts of SiC Particles ranging from 2 to 10 wt% were used as reinforcements. The produced composites were subjected to mechanical characterization (tensile, bending and impact tests). As per ASTM standards the test specimens were prepared to perform the mechanical testing. The findings revealed that the tensile strength and elongation at failure was reduced when the SiC particles content was increased. The increases in wt % of SiC up to 10 % drastically reduced the ultimate strength and elongation to 10.94 MPa and 0.729 % respectively, which was 39.2 % and 38.84 % lower than that of sisal fibre/epoxy composite. The flexural strength of sisal fibre/epoxy composite was increased to 74 MPa when the SiC particles increased up to 5 wt % and then reduced to 65 MPa with further increment in weight fraction of SiC particle. The impact strength was increased from 2 to 4 J/mm2 when the SiC particles content was increased up to 10 wt %. Scanning electron microscope was used to observe the fracture mechanism of the tensile test specimen. The brittle mode of failure was observed from the fractographs of the tensile test specimen.