Recent Advancement on Mechanical and Wear Properties of Epoxy Matrix Composite Reinforced with Varying Ratios of Solid Glass Microspheres

This research work is carried out to study the mechanical and wear behaviour of inorganic particle filled polymers. The usage of polymers especially epoxy resin is of considerable significance in the engineering field for a substantial period of time. Epoxy matrix filled with varying ratios of Solid glass microspheres (SGM) were fabricated using mechanical stirring process. The weight percentage of SGM were varied from 0 – 30, with a step size of 5wt%. Effect of weight percentage of SGM particles on bending strength, compression strength and compression modulus of the composites was evaluated. The Wear resistance of the composites against En-32 steel disk, was evaluated in terms of mass loss for various ratios of SGM using pin-on-disk test rig. Besides these, density of the composites was also evaluated. Mechanical and wear properties of the composites were improved by adding suitable percentage of the filler. Moreover density increased with the increase in percentage of SGM particles in the composites. Thus, the mechanical and wear properties of the epoxy can be improved by including solid glass microspheres in suitable percentage.