RÉSUMÉ

Particulate fillers play a major role in determining the properties and behavior of composites. In the present study, a series of glass fiber-reinforced polyester composites are fabricated using granite powder and fly ash particles as filler material. The effects of these fillers on the mechanical properties of glass-polyester composites are investigated. Comparative analysis shows that the tensile strength of both filled groups (fly ash and granite) is less as compared to the unfilled glass-polyester composite. It is noticed that the tensile modulus of fly ash-filled composites is increasing from 5.7 to 5.92 GPa while in granite-filled composites it is decreasing from 5.12 to 3.49 GPa. The microhardness, density, and impact strength are also affected by the type and content of these fillers. It is found that a composite with 10 wt.% fly ash shows a maximum hardness of 44 Hv among all the composites and has the least void content of 6.45% as compared to granite-filled composites. This study reveals that reduction in the tensile, flexural, and interlaminar shear strength is minimum in a 10 wt.% fly ash-filled composite as compare to granite-filled composites.