The effect of natural rubber particle inclusions on the mechanical and damping properties of epoxy-filled glass fibre composites

Abstract

Vibration damping is proving important for improved vibration and noise control, dynamicstability,fatigue, andimpactresistanceinadvancedengineeringsystems.Inthepresent work,theeffectofnaturalrubberparticleinclusionsonthemechanicalanddampingpropertiesof epoxy-filledglassfibrecompositesisinvestigated.Testspecimensarefabricatedwithinclusionof natural rubberparticlesofdifferent sizes andtestedfortensilestrength,tensilemodulus,flexural strength, and flexural modulus. These mechanical properties are influenced by the size of the rubber particle inclusions. Vibration tests are carried out and damping ratio is calculated. It is observed that damping ratio varies with inclusion of natural rubber particles and that 0.25mm particle inclusions improve damping better than other selected particle sizes without greatly affecting the stiffness in the case of cantilever beams and fixed free plates.