Director Ambekar E. Eknath, Ph. D Head, APED J.K. Jena, Ph. D ...

Glass Fibre Reinforced Thermoset Plastic
Thermosets are cross-l~nked polymers, which cannot be reshaped or
reworked subsequently. They are initially available in linear polymer form,
which can be cross linked using heat and/or catalyst. Unsaturated Polyester,
Phenolics, Epoxies, Furan, Amino resins, Polyamides. Melamine,
Polyurethane, Silicones, etc. are the thermoset resins used for making GRP.
Out of these resins, polyesters and epoxies that account for the bulk of the
composite. Composite material are made up of by combining two or more
materials in such a way that the resulting material has certain desired or
improved properties. The example is the Glass Reinforced Plastics (GRP).
Composite materials are made out of glass fibre and thermosets by 18
different processing methods. These methods give a wide range of material
structure and help to make products of different complexities. The properties
of the composites made by these manufacturing methods also differ
considerably. The choice of a particular composition of GRP and the
manufacturing methods depend on the type of product and the property
requirements. Composites have several properties and features that make
them to stand above all other conventional materials both in their
performance efficiency and manufacturing adaptability. Some of these
attributes are given below:
Fibrous composites have generally high specific strength and specific
modulus
Composites are multifunctional materials.
Composites are generally energy efficient.
Composites generally can be made corrosion resistant and weather
resistant.
The composites can be designed to give properties for specific design
conditions.
By proper orientation of fibres, directional properties can be obtained.
Products of complex shapes can be easily molded without any material
wastage.
Basic Features of GRP Product Design
Design of GRP product differs in two respects from the design of products
made out of other conventional materials. In the case of conventional product
design, ready-made materials like steel, aluminum, timer, etc are used. The
materials generally do not undergo any chemical changes during the product
manufacture. In the case of thermoset matrix GRP, the geometrical
arrangement of fibres is being made during the product manufacture and
resin generally undergoes chemical changes.