Optimization of Fabrication Process for Glass Fibre Polymer Composite

This book aims at optimizing the process parameters so as to enhance the mechanical properties of the glass fibre based polymer composite using Taguchi method. The factors considered for optimization are percentage of fibre, type of resin and percentage of additive (silica) each at three different levels. Nine experiments were performed based on the L9 orthogonal array of Taguchi method and analysis of variance, which is a statistical method, was used to check significance levels of different parameters. Statistical analysis technique was used to find the most influential factor affecting the output parameters viz., tensile strength, impact strength and hardness of composite specimen. Fibre percentage had a significant influence in the strength of the material followed by additive percentage. It was also seen that increase in the amount of fibre does not necessarily means increase in the strength and best results were achieved at 30% fibre content.