Elucidating The Effect Of Milled Glass And Graphite Fiber On The Quasi-Static Properties Of Vinyl Ester Resin Composites

Composite materials can be tailored to various applications, making them one of the most conventional materials. Their ability to enhance desired characteristics enables higher strength while maintaining light weight. However, understanding defects and manufacturing limitations is crucial for optimizing their fabrication processes. This paper focuses on the manufacturing processes of open molding with controlled variations to establish an optimal technique aimed at minimizing defects, such as bubble formation where the focus is on mitigating defects and ensuring uniform dispersion of fiber in fiber-reinforced composites. After refining the manufacturing process, composites with varying resin-to-fiber concentration ratios were manufactured using glass and graphite fibers. These samples were subsequently evaluated under quasi-static loading conditions, including bending and tensile tests, to analyze the impact of manufacturing variables on the mechanical properties of the composites. This investigation highlighted bubble formation as a critical manufacturing defect due to the significant impact on the material's properties. In addition, an increase in fiber reinforcement led to a higher viscous mixture, making the manufacturing more prone to bubble formation. It was concluded that the integration of heat improved with the mitigation of bubble formation, and reduced deviations between samples.