Studies on Mechanical and Dielectric Properties of the Ni(OH)2 Filler Reinforced Polymer Composite Materials for Structural Application

Abstract

Polymer composite materials play a vital role in many automotive and wind turbine industries because of their high mechanical properties. The present work emphasises the improvement of polymer composites used for different environmental conditions. The glass and basalt fibers with epoxy and vinyl ester matrix have been prepared individually with 3 % Ni(OH)2 filler. The mechanical and dielectric properties were investigated separately for each material. The mechanical properties of the glass fiber with vinyl ester and Ni(OH)2 filler showed better results. The dielectric strength of the glass fiber with vinyl ester and Ni(OH)2 filler material in a saline environment showed only a 38.16 % reduced dielectric value before saline treatment. The FE validation was also validated using Digimat- FE software for evaluating the void stress in the filler matrix. From the validation the glass fiber with epoxy resin and Ni(OH)2 filler showed the lowest von-Mises stress and shear stress values compared to the other materials. The overall results highlight the improvement of mechanical and electrical properties after the addition of Ni(OH)2 filler materials in offshore environment to meet the demands of the wind turbine industry.

Keywords

• dielectric strength, mechanical strength, water absorption, thermal stability, nickel hydroxide & environmental fatigue