Improvement in mechanical properties of glass fiber fabric/PVC composites with chopped glass fibers and coupling agent

Glass fiber reinforced polyvinylchloride (PVC) composite is used widely because of its low price, chemical resistance, and dimensional stability, but most are short fiber reinforced PVC composites. Fabric reinforced composite have undulated regions, which is the only region without fiber, due to the characteristics of the weave construction, and it limits increasing the mechanical properties. Therefore, in this study, to increase the mechanical properties, the undulated regions of the glass fiber fabric/PVC composite were filled with a silane coupling agent treated chopped fiber. The physical properties, dynamic mechanical thermal properties, and mechanical properties of the prepared composite were observed. The critical fiber aspect ratio of the chopped fiber is different for each mechanical property. This shows that the fabric-reinforced composite of chopped fibers affect each of the mechanical properties differently. In addition, the silane coupling treatment increases the compatibility of the composite components, improving the mechanical properties.