The effect of natural rubber particle inclusions on the mechanical and damping properties of epoxy-filled glass fibre composites

摘要

Vibration damping is proving important for improved vibration and noise control, dynamic stability, fatigue, and impact resistance in advanced engineering systems. In the present work, the effect of natural rubber particle inclusions on the mechanical and damping properties of epoxy-filled glass fibre composites is investigated. Test specimens are fabricated with inclusion of natural rubber particles of different sizes and tested for tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength, and flexural modulus. These mechanical properties are influenced by the size of the rubber particle inclusions. Vibration tests are carried out and damping ratio is calculated. It is observed that damping ratio varies with inclusion of natural rubber particles and that 0.25 mm particle inclusions improve damping better than other selected particle sizes without greatly affecting the stiffness in the case of cantilever beams and fixed free plates.