Dynamic mechanical properties of epoxy resin matrix reinforced with sugarcane bagasse

Abstract

The dynamic mechanical analysis was performed on five different formulations of a reinforced epoxy resin matrix with sugarcane bagasse (SCB) using hand lay-up technique. The viscoelastic behaviours of the composites were studied by analyzing the thermal parameters such as storage modulus E'(MPa), loss modulus E''(MPa), and tan⁡δ as the temperature increases at periodic stress frequencies of 2.5, 5, and 10 Hz using Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer (DMA). The results revealed that E'(MPa) and E''(MPa) decreased with increasing temperature for all composites, while the tan⁡δ increased with increasing temperatures. As the frequency of oscillation is increased, the viscoelastic parameters was seen to increase as well. However, the tan⁡δ (damping coefficient) was found to decrease with increase in SCB fibre loading due to the good load-bearing capacity of the composites. The tan⁡δ peak temperature of the composites was found to be higher than the onset temperature of E'(MPa) and peak temperature of E"(MPa) which depict higher accuracy. Futhermore, it was seen that the increase in SCB fibre content in the epoxy resin increased the glass transition temperature (Tg).