Effect of Metallic Fillers on Mechanical Properties of FRP Composite

Using of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites, due to their high specific modulus and corrosion resistance properties, becomes a common practice as an alternative to heavyweight metallic materials. Using metallic fillers in FRP composites provides electromagnetic shielding but can affect their mechanical and thermal properties. In this study, glass fibre reinforced polyester composite sheets are fabricated with mild steel as filler. Mild steel filler is extracted from gear grinding waste of CNC machine. An experiment is conducted to check the effect of metallic filler on tensile and flexural strength of FRP composite. Both flexural and tensile strength first decrease on the addition of filler content up to 15% while an increment has been observed when filler content is increased from 15 to 25% which is explained on the basis of dispersion of filler and bonding of filler particles with resin molecules.