The performance of calcium carbonate filled, random fiber composites

Abstract This paper describes an investigation into the performance of calcium carbonate filled, random fiber reinforced composites. A series of composite plaques were fabricated by resin transfer molding (RTM) a calcium carbonate filled, unsaturated polyester resin with either an A‐glass continuous strand mat (CSM) or an E‐glass CSM preform. The influence of fiber type and calcium carbonate filler loading level were then evaluated through a combination of experiments and micro‐mechanics based modeling. The results of these studies indicate that the use of the E‐glass reinforcement led to better mechanical properties relative to their A‐glass counterpart. In addition, the composite moduli increased as the calcium carbonate filler level increased; however, the composite strengths were insensitive to filler loading level. Finally, a previously developed micro‐mechanics based model was extended to consider the presence of the filler within the resin matrix. This model was used to predict the tensile moduli and strength as well as the overall shape of the stress‐strain curves. Good agreement was found between the model predictions and the experimental results which suggests that this model could be used as a preliminary design tool to examine the effect of constituent composition on structural performance.