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Composite materials made up of polymer matrix reinforced with synthetic fibers have gained popularity of late owing to their enhanced mechanical properties. However, very little work is reported to date on metals being used as filler material. Research gaps were obtained pertaining to the use of metallic fillers in synthetic fiber reinforced polymer composites. This paper demonstrates an attempt to fabricate composites made of Epoxy polymer matrix and E-glass fiber reinforcement with Mild Steel in its powdered form as fillers. Composites are prepared in varying weight percentages of the filler in the order of 2 wt. %, 4 wt. % and 6 wt. %. Hand layup method is employed for fabricating these composites which are later subjected to compression. Further, the samples are machined according to ASTM D3039 standard for tensile test and ASTM D256 standard for Izod impact test. Hardness test is also performed using a Shore D Durometer and these properties are compared with the unfilled samples. The results indicated that the weight percentage of the filler clearly influenced the mechanical properties of the developed composites. This study also revealed that the hardness and tensile strength of these composites improved with the incorporation of fillers up to 2 wt. % whereas, the impact strength improved up to 4 wt. %. Thereafter, there was a decline in their impact and tensile properties. However, hardness marginally increased beyond 4 wt. %. This area is open for research with regard to their usability under tribological, high temperature or magnetic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over decades, composite materials have grown at a very steady rate, allowing them to progressively penetrate and conquer current markets. Modern composite materials in the materials world are reaching new heights by putting a firm foot in every single one of them. There is a market available that goes from a simple product that is utilised every day to an extremely sophisticated material. Attempts are made to comprehend the demands of the ever-expanding natural composite business by examining the current literature on diverse natural fiber-based composites. The conclusion is that by successfully fusing vegetable natural fibres with polymer matrices, the mechanical properties of the composite have improved in comparison to the matrix material. These filters are inexpensive, non-toxic, and simple to recycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High performance glass fiber reinforced epoxy composites are in greater demand in several industrial applications, from civil structures to aviation industry. The epoxy has highly cross-linked structure and is found to be high performance polymer. Further, carbon nanofillers such as multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) and thermally stable microfiller aluminium trihydrate (ATH) are being used to improve the thermal properties. GNP and MWCNT posses high aspect ratio and specific surface area contributing to improvement in thermal properties of composites. In spite of this, there are difficulties connected with nanofiller addition, such as dispersion and interaction. The fabricated nanocomposites are based on ECR glass fiber and epoxy resin by adding GNP, MWCNT and ATH fillers using pultrusion process assisted by ultrasonication. For the purpose of comparison, composites containing only MWCNT, GNP and ATH were also tested. The XRD and SEM were used to study the fillers dispersion and interaction. The thermogravemetric analysis(TGA) was carried out to determine the thermal stability of composites. From the thermal analysis result, it is found that the epoxy-MWCNT-GNP-ATH composite has enhanced thermal stability due to the addition of ATH micro filler. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]