Correlation Between Bonding Mechanism and Interleaved Mesh– GPTMS Surface Synergy in Co‐Cured Composite Joints

ABSTRACT The use of adhesive bonding has become popular in the fabrication of fiber‐reinforced composite assemblies in the large‐scale manufacturing industries. This research focused on enhancing the GFRP (glass fiber reinforced polymer) composite joint utilizing stainless steel 304 (SS 304) wire mesh and glass filler reinforcements using an interleaving and traditional approach through the co‐cure method. A glycidoxypropyl‐trimethoxysilane (GPTMS) treatment was utilized to modify the SS‐304 wire mesh and glass fillers. This study examined the effect of different reinforcement configurations, such as GPTMS‐treated Mesh SLJ (GMSLJ), GPTMS‐treated Interleaved Mesh SLJ (GIMSLJ), Interleaved Mesh SLJ (IMSLJ), Mesh SLJ (MSLJ), and Plain SLJ (PSLJ) modified with GPTMS glass powder (1 wt.%), on vibration and shear properties. Results from the experiments showed that GIMSLJ possessed the highest shear strength (78.20%), followed by GMSLJ (76.98%), IMSLJ (69.11%), MSLJ (57.35%), PSLJ (54.14%), compared to epoxy SLJ. Also, GIMSLJ and GMSLJ with GPTMS‐modified glass powder (1 wt.%) had the highest natural frequency compared to the other reinforced SLJ. The findings of this study were verified using (Analysis of Variance) ANOVA, with p < 0.05 being statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.