INFLUENCE OF BIODIESEL AND BLENDED FUELS ON THE TENSILE AND COMPRESSIVE PROPERTIES OF GLASS FIBRE REINFORCED EPOXY COMPOSITES

With the recent usage increase of biodiesel as an alternative fuel source as well as the increase in the utilisation of glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) as structure such as tanks have considerably affected the necessity to study the influence of fuel absorption on the mechanical properties of GFRP composites. Biodiesel is a renewable, efficient and environmentally friendly but possess a high viscosity property. Three main fuel types which consist of aviation fuel, biodiesel and a blend between aviation and biodiesel fuel are used to perform complete immersion of the GFRP specimens. An experimental method is used to investigate the mechanical degradation in term of tension and compression properties of the GFRP composites. The GFRP specimens are aged using immersion bath technique. Vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding (VARTM) is used to manufacture the GFRP specimens with a volume fraction of 0.50 with a void content below 3%. The GFRP specimens were immersed in the fuels until it reaches an equilibrium state before the tensile and compression test was carried out to study the mechanical properties of the immersed specimens. Based on the result obtained, the GFRP specimens that were immersed in all three fuel solution display a slight degradation in term of tensile and compressive strength as well as their Young's modulus when compared to an as-received (standard) specimen. It is concluded, that the GFRP composite was able to resist the fuels corrosive nature as they can retain most of their mechanical strength and the decrement is not significant.