Mechanical Properties of Submicron Glass Fiber Reinforced Vinyl Ester Composite

Vinyl ester (VE) resin inherently has intrinsic brittleness due to its high cross-link density. To improve mechanical performance, micro/nano fillers are widely used to modify this matrix. In present study, glass fiber in submicron scale at low contents was added into VE to prepare submicron composite (sMC). The impact resistance of un-notched sMC degraded with the increase of sGF content while that of notched-sMC remained the unchanged. Flexural properties of sMCs also were the same with that of neat resin. The results of Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) test showed the slight increase of storage modulus and the decrease of tan delta value in the case of sMC compared to those of un-filled matrix. However, the Mode I fracture toughness of sMC improved up to 26% and 61% corresponding to 0.3 and 0.6 wt% glass fiber used. The compact tension sample test suggests that there is the delay of crack propagation under tensile cyclic load in resin reinforced by submicron glass fiber. The number of failure cycle enlarged proportionally with the increment of sGF content in matrix.