Study on effect of water soaking conditions on properties and morphology of glass fiber-cement-polyester composites

Glass fiber-cement-polyester composites with different weight percentages (wt.%) of glass fiber and cement were fabricated in the present work through hand lay-up process. Composites were made to undergo different soaking conditions viz., water soaking at room temperature, and boiling water soaking. Unsoaked (as prepared) composites, water-soaked at room temperature, and boiling water soaked samples were tested as per ASTM standards for tensile and flexural strengths. The design of experiments (DOE) based on the full factorial design (3(3) = L-27) is applied to optimize the response variables using MINITAB-18. Results revealed that increasing the wt.% of glass fiber enhanced flexural and tensile strengths. Increasing the wt.% of cement deteriorated the tensile strength but increased the flexural strength. However, specimen subjected to water soaking conditions exhibited a decline in both tensile and flexural strengths. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.