The Effect of Textile Structure Reinforcement on Polymer Composite Material Mechanical Behavior

Investigating the impact of textile structure reinforcement on the mechanical characteristics of polymer composites produced by the compression molding technique was the goal of this work. An epoxy resin system served as the matrix, and various woven (plain, twill, basket), nonwoven (mat), and unidirectional (UD) textile structures made from E-glass fibers were employed as reinforcement elements. Compression molding of pre-impregnated textile materials (prepregs) was used to create the composites. The well-impregnated textile structures with resin into prepreg and the good interface between layers of the composites were verified during the manufacture of the polymer–textile composites using DSC thermal analysis and an SEM microscope. For the mechanical behavior, flexural properties were determined. The composite samples with unidirectional prepreg reinforcement have the highest longitudinal flexural strengths at roughly 900 MPa. The woven prepreg-based composite laminates show balanced flexural properties in both directions. Composites based on plane and basket prepregs have a flexural strength of about 450 MPa. Their flexural strength is over 20% lower than that of the samples made using twill prepreg. In both directions, nonwoven prepreg-reinforced composite samples show the least amount of resistance to bending stresses (flexural strength of roughly 150 MPa).