Abstract
Polymer matrix composites with different fibre glass reinforcements like wool, woven ring and mesh has been prepared through hand layup method for the experimental investigation on compression strength and weight evaluation. EPOXY/PVC blend has been used as matrix material with different weight percentages of PVC such as 5%, 15% and 25%. The prepared specimen has been subjected to heat treatment in a oven for different timing such as 15, 30 and 45 min. The present study considers the percentage of PVC, fibre glass type and heating time as input factors to observe their effect over weight and compression strength of the specimen through Taguchi’s L27 Orthogonal array. The statistical analysis of experimental results through signal to noise ratio method and ANOVA reveals that the type of fibre used for making the specimen has more influence over both the output parameters. The heat treatment provided to the specimen and the percentage of PVC has no significant effect and the residual error in analysis is around 10%.The investigation carried out reveals that 5% PVC composition with woven rings reinforcement material has shown the maximum compression strength and highest specimen weight and the changes in matrix material combinations with different PVC compositions, fiber glass with increased or decreased thickness may be considered as the future directions of the current study.