Viscoelastic behavior of glass fiber reinforced rubber-modified epoxy

Abstract

Epoxies as a thermoset polymer have got a great attention in different applications. To elaborate their employing and surmount their brittleness, many polymers were blended with them. The results confirm that the good mechanical properties are obtained when 6wt% of Polysulfide Rubber (PSR) is blended with epoxy and reinforced with fiber glass. The effect of rubber and glass fiber on the viscoelastic properties of epoxy were investigated using creep-recovery data under different stress levels (5, 10, 15 and 20 MPa) and temperatures (30, 50, 70 and 90°C). Polysulfide addition caused larger creep and creep recovery. In addition, the creep resistance of glass fiber reinforced blend was significantly enhanced.

Keywords

• epoxy resin
• polysulfide rubber
• viscoelastic
• mechanical properties