Report

Composite materials
Kevin Ribot
Almir Becirspahic
Martinus Putra Widjaja

European Master Course in ADVANCED SHIP DESIGN

Ship Structure and Ship Production

by
Prof. Luc COURARD

Liege, 2014
Adress: Des Pres 40 ,

Liege, 4020 , Belgium.

Phone: +32 497 33 33 96

e-mail:

almir.bec@gmail.com

Composite Materials

Composite materials report

1 Design of composite materials
We have to design a shell for containing a lubricant, which volume 10 liters and this shell should have a pleasant aspect.
Which means that from outside you must apply the topcoat in order to have a smooth and clean surface.

Shell Technical Data

Description

Value

Unit

Internal Pressure

0.75

MPa

Lenght

Diameter

0.2

Thickness (with top coat)

1.5

mm

Safety Coefficient

Figure 1. Designing Shell

Gel Coat Specifications

Resin Specifications
Value

Unit

Description

Value

Unit

Specific Weight

1.056

gr/cm3

Specific Weight

1.056

gr/cm3

Thickness

0.5

mm

Thickness

0.5

mm

Gel Coat Weight

87.648

gram

Gel Coat Weight

87.648

gram

Description

*at 25oC and with 2% hardener harden after 20 min

Roving Fabric Specifications

Mat Specifications
Value

Unit

Description

Value

Unit

Specific Weight

350

gr/cm3

Specific Weight

450

gr/cm3

Tensile Strength

2500

MPa

Tensile Strength

2500

MPa

E modulus

75000

MPa

E modulus

75000

MPa

Specific Mass of Glass

2560

kg/m3

Specific Mass of Glass

2560

kg/m3

Thickness

0.35

mm

Thickness

0.65

mm

0.5

0.375

Description

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We can start to calculate how many resins that should be used for producing the composite materials. This calculation is
very important because if you have too much resins inside your composite materials, then it will increase the probability of air
bubble occurrence in the composite materials which is detrimental for its strength.
2.1 Calculating the percentage of void&glass space in roving fibres

Roving Void Space (%) =

Specific mass of glass

Thickness
Specific mass of glass

2560kg / m

Roving Void Space (%) =

SurfaceWeight

0.35kg / m

x 100%

0.00035
3
2560kg / m

x 100% = 61%

Roving glass space (%)=100%-61%=39%

2.2. Calculating the percentage of void&glass space in mat fibres

Mat Void Space (%) =

Specific mass of glass

SurfaceWeight

Thickness
Specific mass of glass

3 0.45kg / m
2560kg / m
0.00045
Mat Void Space (%) =
3
2560kg / m

x 100%

x 100% = 73%

Mat glass space (%)=100%-73%=27%

Materials

Glas

Void

Roving

61%

39%

Mat

73%

28%

By using excel spreadsheet, we could calculate how much weight of the resins needed to produce the composites in each
layer by measuring the dimensions in the laboratory. After knowing the volume of each layer, we simply multiply these value
with the void percentage above and also the resin density. Do not forgot to add some safety factor because there will be
resin left on the brush. Finally, we will got how many resin that we need,

ResinWeight = Composites area x Roving / Mat Thickness x Roving / Mat percentage x Resin Density x 1.2

Composite Materials

2 Calculating the stress that must be handled by the composites

In this case, we will make a composite materials that can handle the internal pressure from the lubricant. Because we design
it as a normal cylinder with some thickness. Then, this cylinder will be subjected to internal pressure which will induced the
stress on the shell. There will be 2 stress will occur :

Hoop Stress =

P D
0.75MPa o .2m
xSF =
x 2 = 150MPa
2t
20.001m

Longitudinal Stress =

P D
4t

Where D is diameter of the cylinder and t is the thickness of the cylinder. Because the value of hoop stress will always bigger
than the longitudinal one, we take this value as a reference to compare with the actual stress that the composites could
resist.

3 Calculating the actual stress that composites could resist

First, we got one basic restrictions to manufactured this composites which is the composites should have at least 1.5 mm of
thickness including the top coat. By knowing the thickness of top coat which is 0.5 mm, then we know that the actual
thickness of composites that will resist the stress is only 1 mm. Therefore, we tried to calculate the actual stress of this 1 mm
of composites which consists of 1 layer of roving fibres and 1 layer of mat fibres.
Based on the law of mixtures we assume that :
Resin and fibres are homogenous
The state of stress and strain is plane
Laminate is orthotrope
Laminate is symmetrical about the plane through its thickness
There is no contact between fibres or wires
Wires have same diameter and resistance
Hooke's law is used for fibres and wires behaviour
Rupture is determined by wire of fibres rupture (elastic behaviour until rupture)

Equation for calculating the E modulus of the composites:

EC=kk1k2EfVf(%)+EmVm(%)
Equation for calculating the Stress of the composites

Comp=kk1k2fVf(%)+mVm(%)
Where:

Composite Materials

Ec

: E modulus of the composite (longitudinal)

Ef

: E modulus of the fibre

Em

: E modulus of the resin

Vf (%)

: Volume of Fibres (%)

Vm(%)

: Volume of Resin (%)

k1

: misalignment coefficient of the fibres

k2

: coefficient of contiguity of the fibres

: % in volume of fibres with angle versus load direction

When the composite material is consist of several layers then,

k=

k e
e
i

Where:
k

:For roving is 0.5 and for mat is 0.375

:the thickness of every layers

For the first approach the value of k1 and k2 is 1.

Now, we have to calculate the glass and resin percentage in 1mm of composites, first we have to calculate the roving and
mat volume ratio, which is

RovingVolumeRatio =
=

(RovingThicknessxNumber of Roving Layers )

(RovingThicknessxNumber of Roving Layers )+(MatThicknessxNumber Layers )
(0.35x 1)
= 0.35
(0.35x 1)+(0.65x 1)

Mat Volume Ratio = 1 - Roving Volume Ratio =1 - 0.35 = 0.65

Then we can calculate the glass and resin percentage inside the composite, which is

Glass Percentage =
=

(RovingGlass Percentage x RovingVolume Ratio )+(Mat Glass Percentage x MatVolume Ratio )

(RovingVolume ratio +MatVolume Ratio )
(0.39 x 0.35)+(0.27x 0.65)
= 0.312
(0.35+0.65)

Because our composites consist of 1 layer of roving and 1 layer of mat then we have

k=

k e = (0.5x 0.35) + (0.375x 0.65) = 0.41875

(0.35 + 0.65)
e
i

Composite Materials

Finally, we can calculate the E modulus and Actual Stress of the composites.
E Modulus of Composites:

EC=kk1k2EfVf(%)+EmVm(%)=0.41875 x 75000x0.312 + 3800 x 0.688=12413.15 MPa

Actual Stress that Composites could resist

Comp=kk1k2fVf(%)+mVm(%)=0.41875 x 2500 x 0.312 + 52 x 0.688=362.4 MPa

Composites Design
Description

Value

Unit

Number of Roving

Roving Ratio of Volume

0.35

Number of Mat

Mat Ratio of Volume

0.65

Glass Percentage

31.2

Resin Percentage

68.8

Thickness

mm

k composites

0.41875

E modulus

12413.2

MPa

Stress composites

362.4

MPa

Actual Stress (Hoop)

150

MPa

k1 k2

By compare the results between hoop stress and the actual stress of composites, we can assure that this composites would
have enought strength to hold the internal pressure from the lubricant. Therefore we decide to produce the composites
which have 1 layer of roving and 1 layer of mat, which has enough strength and pleasant aspect (to have roving layers
outside).

Composite Materials

4 Manufactring Composites Materials

To produce this composites we used several items:

1.

Demolding Agent (Plastic) Gel Coat or Top Coat

2.

Brush

3.

Polyester accelerated Resin

4.

Hardener

5.

Scale

6.

Roller

7.

Roving and Mat Fibres

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Manufacturing procedures :
Measure the length and width of the boundaries. Then input this value on the excel spreadsheet in order to get the weight
of resin needed for each fibres. Also how many mL of hardener should be mixed with.
Scaling the weight of gel coat 87.6 gram and 1.6 mL of hardener (using pipette)
Apply the gel coat on top of the demolding agent inside the boundaries using brush
Wait until the polymerization process is begin ( gluing but no residual attached on finger)
Scaling the weight of resin for roving 47.5 gram and 0.8 mL of hardener (using pipette)
Apply the resin on top of the gel coat using brush (evenly inside boundaries)
Put the roving fibre and try to make the resin applied evenly using brush and use roller to make the air bubble going out
from the layer
Wait until the polymerization process is begin ( gluing but no residual attached on finger)
Scaling the weight of resin for mat 105.5 gram and 1.8 mL of hardener (using pipette)
Apply the resin on top of the roving layer using brush (evenly inside boundaries)
Put the mat fibre and try to make the resin applied evenly using brush and use roller to make the air bubble going out
from the layer
Finish

Figure 2. Composites Materials of 1 layer of Roving and 1 layer of Mat fibres

Composite Materials

5 Destructive test of the composite materials

After we produce the composites, we will find the strength by using one of the destructive test which is by using tensile test
machine (Fig 3- left).

Figure 3. Tensile test machine (left) ; Testing eprouvets of our composites (right)
First we have to calculate the thickness and width for each specimen (Horizontal, Vertical, Oblique directions) manually by
using digital millimeter gauge. Then, we put the specimen onto the machine and make sure the specimen is fixed enough on
the bracket. By input the value of thickness and width to the computer. This machine will automatically calculate the stress
and displacement that happen on the specimen directly until it breaks.

RESULTS
By knowing the equations below, we can calculate the k1 and k2 value from both equations and take the average of it.

E=

Tensile stress s
F L0
= =
external strain e A0 DL

E modulus of composite (EC) = kk1k2EfVf(%)+EmVm(%)

Tensile stress of Composite (C) = k k1 k2 FVF (%)+MVM (%)

Composite Materials

No

Type

Force

Displacement

Width

Thickness

Lenght

mm

mm

mm

mm

9H1

2 242,00

2,36

19,58

1,08

100

9V1

2 934,30

2,52

19,93

1,16

100

9O1

2 402,20

2,20

20,31

1,28

100

9H2

2 439,70

2,47

20,00

1,00

100

9V2

3 143,20

2,71

20,00

1,00

100

9O2

2 255,60

2,54

19,97

1,00

100

Average

2 569,50

2,47

19,97

1,09

100

St. Deviation

377,58

0,17

0,23

0,11

Figure 2. Composites Materials of 1 layer of Roving and 1 layer of Mat fibres

No

Type

Section Area
mm2

MPa

Mpa

9H1

21.14

106.02

4492.4

1.4136

0.2150

0.191

9V1

23.11

126.9

5036.6

1.692

0.2790

0.247

9O1

25.99

92.4

4200.1

1.2320

0.1733

0.161

9H2

20

121.98

4938.6

1.626

0.2639

0.237

Stress

E Modulus

Real SF

k1k2 (Stress)

k1k2 (E)

9V2

20

157.16

5799.2

2.095

0.3716

0.325

9O2

19.97

112.94

4446.8

1.505

0.2362

0.187

Average

21.705

119.57

4819

1.594

0.2407726

St. Deviation

2.4312

22.08

574.5

0.294

0.0625492

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DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

From the results, we know that the stress and modulus value from experiment and calculation is different. This could be
happened due to several reasons. Which are :

1.

From the design calculation, we know that the total thickness of roving, mat, and gel coat would be 1,5 mm. But
from the results, we got 1,09 mm for total thickness. This might be happened because of summation from human
error such as reading the scale for resin weight and hardener weight and timing to put another layer. Because if
the timing is not perfect, the resin from the other layers will mixed each other and reducing the thickness.

2.

When we applied the fibers, there are some misalignment and discontinuity of it. Which we do not consider from
the first calculation. Therefore after the test, we could calculate that coefficients and found out the value for k1, k2
is 0,24

3.

Because we did it manually, it was possible that inside the composite still have an air bubble and the resin is not
evenly distributed along the fibers. These phenomenon will affect the performance of composites. This is the
reason that the stress value is different although in the same direction.

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Composite Materials

6 Answer to questions
Which type of manufacturing process would be more suitable for this type of composites? Why?

The suitable manufacturing process to make the lubricant container is filament winding for roving fibers. On the other hand,
for mat fibers we could use spraying technique along the cylinder container. As picture below, this filament winding process
had been developed by The University of Birminghams School of Metallurgy and Materials and a UK consortium of
companies that being showcased at JEC Europe 2013 at Paris which has achieved up to an 80% reduction in cleaning
solvent consumption along with an equivalent reduction of mixed resin waste.

We choose this method because we could control the direction of the fibers which will affect the k coefficients, also the
alignment and contiguity factors (k1, k2) would be higher because the fibers will be guided by the machine, which always has
the same amount of force to guide the fibers onto the mandrel compare to make it manually by hand.

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Composite Materials

How to increase mechanical strength without increasing thickness of composite?

From the following equation of tensile stress:

Tensile stress of Composite (C) = k k1 k2 FVF (%)+MVM (%)

we understand that there is only one parameter that could be changed in order to increase the mechanical strength without
increasing the thickness which is the k, k1 and k2 coefficients. Which means that we have to design the fibers aligned with
the load that acting for this lubricant container. Also when we produce this composites, we have to make sure that the fibers
are aligned between each filament and also continuous from every edge.

How to increase reinforcement content?

We have to make the percentage of glass higher than the percentage of the void space. Which means that we should add
more fibers inside the composites and it will reduce the void space of composite materials. At the end, the materials should
have a higher value to resist the load.

What would be the thickness of an Alu 6061-0 plate for the same tensile strength?
From our composites, we know that the average stress is 119.57 MPa then convert it into 1219.27 kg/cm2. By using the
table, we know that the thickness of Alu 6061-0 with 840 kg/cm2 tensile strength is 2.11 mm
Then the thickness of the plate with the same tensile strength to our composite would be,

Thickness of Alu 6061 =

Composite Stress
Thickness of Alu at specific stress value
Aluminum Stress

Thickness of Alu 6061 =

1219.27
2.11 = 3062mm
840

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Composite Materials

7 General conclusions
As we can see from the results, that our thickness is below the requirement thickness of 1.5 mm, which is 1.09 mm. But
from the stress point of view, we have the average stress of composite materials value is 119,57 MPa which means that our
safety factor is reducing from 2 to 1,59. From this, we can conclude that our design is still enough to handle the hoop stress.
Indeed, if we put another layer then we will achieve the requested thickness and also able to resist the load.
In order to know our error from the calculation, we calculate the relative error between the experiment results and calculated
one for thickness and stress as below,

t1.5mm - t expe
100 = 27.3%
t1.5mm
s
-s
serror = 1.5mm expe 100 = 20.3%
s1.5mm

t error =

Both of the is resulting between 20-30 %, which is still acceptable because this is our first time to design and make our
composite materials. So, there should be some little mistake here and there which is cumulated along the manufacturing
process. By time if we make it more often, then the error value will reduce.

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