Effect of Surface Treatment of Glass Fiber on Mechanical Properties of Epoxy Composite

The key issue in the processing composite material is to create an appropriate distribution of the secondary phase and make an adhesive interface. In this research, the effect of surface treatment of glass fibers on the mechanical behavior of composites with epoxy matrix has been investigated. EP 2040/2047 epoxy as the matrix and E-glass as the secondary phase has been employed. Similarly, an amino silane as a coupling agent has been used. To change the composition of the glass and regenerate to the hydroxyl groups, activation pretreatment of glass fibers was performed using a 10% (v/v) hydrochloric acid. Surface modification evaluated by using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. Composite samples were constructed by Vacuum Infusion Process method and short beam shear test has been conducted to determine the performance of the acid treatment and the silane treatment in terms of the interlaminar shear strength. The silane coating glass fibers increased 18% the shear strength of the composite. However, the silane coating on the acid activated glass fibers did not improve the shear strength of the composite.