Effect of micro‐sized blast furnace slag on physical, mechanical, and thermo‐mechanical properties of bi‐directional date palm fiber reinforced polymer composite

Abstract This present research work focuses on studying the physical, mechanical, and thermo‐mechanical behavior of blast furnace slag (BFS) in bi‐directional date palm fiber reinforced hybrid polymer composites. During this investigation, the different weight percentage of blast furnace slag filler (from 3 wt.‐% to 7 wt.‐%) was added to date palm fiber to fabricate epoxy‐based composite by vacuum assisted resign transfer molding (VARTM) technique under controlled pressure conditions. The fabricated composite were characterized for physical (density, void content, hardness), mechanical testing (tensile, flexural, inter‐laminar shear strength, impact strength and fracture toughness) and thermal properties. The experimental result indicated varied rate of deterioration for tensile strength of the composites and the maximum tensile strength 69.51 MPa was obtained for blast furnace slag (3 wt.‐%) and date palm fiber (30 wt.‐%) hybrid composite. The optimum flexural and inter laminar shear strength has been obtained to be 85.72 MPa and 9.43 MPa for 7 wt.‐% blast furnace slag‐filled date palm fiber‐epoxy hybrid composite. Similarly, in case of fracture toughness, blast furnace slag‐filled composites, fracture toughness increases by approximately 20 %, 28 %, and 38 % respectively over unfilled composites. Based upon the results of the present research work can be afterward prolonged for automobile components and low‐grade structural application in addition to optimal waste utilization to reduce environmental degradation.