Fiber Orientation Influence on Mechanical Properties of SiC Particles Filled Epoxy Based Composites Reinforced with Al mesh and Unidirectional Basalt Fibers

Development of natural fiber reinforced sustainable composites have become the focus point due to their enriced behaviour when compared with conventional materials. In this paper, the effect of fiber orientation of basalt fiber with aluminium mesh based composites made by vacuum-assisted hand layup technique is investigated, where aluminium mesh is the base metal and epoxy resin is matrix mixed with silicon carbide. In this work, three types of composites (type 1, 2, and 3) were fabricated with 0°, 45°, and 90° orientations of basalt fiber with respect to metal mesh. The mechanical properties namely tensile, double shear, flexural, impact, hardness and delamination were investigated as per ASTM standard. It has been found that addition of basalt fiber layer increases the mechanical properties from types 1 to 3. Also, due to the result of interlocking behavior of basalt fiber and aluminium mesh, it was noted that the highest value of mechanical properties was observed in 45° orientated fiber of basalt composite laminate. Moreover, morphological analysis was carried out using Scanning Electron Microscope, from which defects like fiber breakage, fiber pull out, and crack propagation were observed and the same can be reduced by proper fabrication of laminates.