Fabrication of Compression Moulding Machine and Analysis of Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Using Finite Element Method

Abstract

In the present scenario, the composite materials are replacing the metals and alloys rapidly. With more advancement in the fabrication technique, material properties are enhancing day by day and it seems to be replacing the conventional materials with more efficiency and sustainability. To properly guide the material behaviour, the better control on the processing and fabrication parameters is very much essential. Voids present during the fabrication seem to effects nearly all the mechanical properties of the composites. The objective of the present study is to fabricate a compression moulding machine and analyse the various properties of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites using finite element method (FEM). In this research work, first a compression moulding machine is fabricated and then the samples with different fiber weight fractions were made and tested for compression, tensile and flexural behaviours. Jute and banana fibers have been used in the preparation of sample as reinforcement. The various properties of the composite materials fabricated using compression moulding machine is compared with the properties of composites made by hand lay-up technique. It has been observed that the material properties enhances with the increasing pressure as the voids tends to decreases for composites fabricated with compression moulding technique. The experimental test results obtained from compression moulding machine were validated using FEM.