Experimental and numerical study on the mechanical properties of reinforced polyester composites

Polyester composites play a vital role in civil engineering applications, especially in bridge and car park structures. Therefore, the addition of waste silica-based fillers will both improve the mechanical and durability performance of composites and produce an environmentally friendly material. In this study, the mechanical performance of polyester composites was investigated experimentally and numerically by adding micro and nanosized silica-based fillers, marble powder, silica fume and nano-silica. 24 cubes for the compression test and 18 prisms for the flexural test were produced in six different groups containing 30% marble powder, 5% silica fume and 1% nano-silica by weight. SEM/EDS testing was used to investigate the distribution of filler particles in the matrix. Experimentally collected results were used to validate tests in the Abaqus software. Additionally, the Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM) was used to estimate the fracture process for the flexural test. The results show that the added silica fume, marble powder and nano silica improves the compressive strength of polyester composites by 32-38% and the flexural tensile strength by 10-60% compared to pure polyester composite. The numerically obtained results matched well with the experimental data, demonstrating the accuracy and feasibility of the calibrated finite element model.