Effect of Fabric Modification and Clay Loading on Mechanical Properties of Reinforced Composites

Ethylene terephthalate fabric has been used to strengthen the unsaturated polyester resin. The macroscopic, microscopic and spectroscopic studies of the surface modified polyester fabric, bentonite and unsaturated polyester are comparatively investigated by tensile and flexural testing, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). Strong fabric and matrix adhesion is governed by surface modification of polyester fabric with alkali treatment. Compared with neat polyester resin, the tensile strength of chemically modified polyester fabric filled unsaturated polyester composites is 47% increase at 3 wt. % of clay and the flexural strength is increased up to 72%. In order to know the delamination tendency, composites broken in mechanical testing are analyzed by SEM. It indicates that delamination tendency, fiber pullout, fiber de-bonding and fiber bridging are reduced in the composites with modified fabric. XRD patterns show that lattice of 3D knitted fabric and MMT composite is body centered cubic.