Experimental Investigation on Mechanical Properties of Coal Ash Reinforced Glass Fiber Polymer Matrix Composites

Glass fiber reinforced polymer composites are one of the most widely used composite materials. The addition of Coal ash to polymer matrix dramatically increases the overall mechanical strength of the composite material as compared to the polymer composite. In view of this, a method is proposed for mixing coal ash powder (size 52-75 μm) into resin and Ash reinforced polymer composites are fabricated by using hand lay-up technique in different weight percentages of coal ash in polymer such as 0%, 4%, 8%, 12%, 16% and 20%.The mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural, compression and Impact properties are studied as per ASTM standards. From the Experimental analysis, it was observed 20% ash reinforced polymer composite is having better tensile strength in comparison with other ash percentages. Similarly 16% ash reinforced composite is having better flexural strength in comparison with other percentages of ash. Similarly 12% ash reinforced composite is having better compression strength in comparison with others. By conducting impact test it was observed that impact strength of polymer matrix composites without ash is having better impact strength than that of coal ash reinforced polymer matrix composites, it was also found that there is no significant effect on Impact strength with the addition of coal ash to glass fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites.