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Tensile properties and cost-property efficiency analyses of expanded polystyrene/chopped glass fiber/epoxy novel composite

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Abstract

This study presents the tensile properties and cost-property efficiency analyses of a novel composite material type composed of expanded polystyrene as filler, chopped glass fibers as reinforcement agent and epoxy resin as matrix material. Composite specimens were fabricated via expanded polystyrene beads with two different densities, two different length of chopped glass fibers and three levels of fiber/filler weight ratios. Specimens were subjected to tensile tests and cost property analyses were carried out. Experimental studies revealed that novel composite specimens had significantly low density and high specific modulus. Cost-property efficiency analyses revealed that the novel composite is relatively highly efficient material and could be utilized instead of its more expensive counterparts such as conventional plastics or laminated composites especially for non-load bearing applications.

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Abbreviations

CGF :

Chopped glass fiber

EPS :

Expanded polystyrene

GFRP :

Glass fiber reinforced plastic

GPA :

Giga pascal

HDPE:

High density polyethylene

MPa:

Mega pascal

PVC :

Polyvinyl chloride

V:

Volume fraction

w:

Weight

ρ:

Density

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Acknowledgments

This research article is a part of the doctorate study. The authors would like to thank to Çukurova R&D for fabrication studies and Koluman Otomotiv Endüstri A.Ş. for testing studies. This study was supported by Cukurova University Scientific Research Project Coordination (FBA-2020-12502).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Automotive Engineering Department, Çukurova University, 01330, Sarıçam / Adana, Turkey

    Hasan Serin & Şafak Yıldızhan

Authors
  1. Hasan Serin
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  2. Şafak Yıldızhan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Şafak Yıldızhan.

Additional information

Hasan Serin was born in Tarsus-Turkey in 1977. He graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Cukurova University in 1999. He pursued his M.Sc. and Ph.D. studies at Cukurova University and got his degrees in 2002 and 2008, respectively. In 2003, he worked as a visiting researcher in Graz-Austria. He assigned a lecturer of mechanical engineering in between 2008 and 2013 and worked as an Assistant Professor between 2013 and 2015. He has been working at the Automotive Engineering Department as an Associate Professor since 2015. His main research interests are composite materials, heat transfer and biodiesel fuels.

Şafak Yıldızhan born in 1991 and studied Automotive Engineering at the Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey from 2009 to 2014. He studied and received his M.Sc. degree from Institute of Natural and Applied Science of Cukurova University in 2017. Currently he is a senior Ph.D. student at the same university. His main research interest is composite materials.

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Serin, H., Yıldızhan, Ş. Tensile properties and cost-property efficiency analyses of expanded polystyrene/chopped glass fiber/epoxy novel composite. J Mech Sci Technol 35, 145–151 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-020-1213-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-020-1213-1

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