Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.

5, 1342-1365 ISSN 1229-9197 (print version)

DOI 10.1007/s12221-022-4760-5 ISSN 1875-0052 (electronic version)

Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Mechanical, Thermal and

Thermomechanical Properties of Hybrid Glass/Metal Fiber Reinforced
Epoxy Composites
Pankaj Agarwal1,2, Mukesh Kumar1, Mahavir Choudhary1, Ankush Sharma1, and Amar Patnaik1*
1
Mechanical Engineering Department, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur 302017, India
2
Amity School of Engineering and Technology, Amity University Rajasthan, Jaipur 303002, India
(Received July 22, 2021; Revised August 18, 2021; Accepted August 21, 2021)

Abstract: This work clearly demonstrates the effective utilization of industrial waste metal fiber to replace glass fiber loading
for the development of hybrid glass/metal fiber reinforced polymer composites for marine applications. The present
composite is fabricated by vacuum assisted resin transfer modelling technique under controlled conditions by varying both
glass fiber and metal fiber in a desired percentage weight ratio. The fabricated hybrid composites are characterized by
physical (density and void content), mechanical (tensile strength, flexural strength, inter-laminar shear strength and impact
strength), thermomechanical analysis (storage modulus, loss modulus and damping factor), water absorption, thermal
conductivity and thermo-gravimetric analysis respectively. The second part of this study mainly covers the simulation
analysis of both mechanical properties and the thermal conductivity of the hybrid polymer composites. This analysis mainly
helps to understand the major causes affecting during experimental analysis along with finding the desired results by
comparing them with the experimental results. The last part of this analysis focuses on studying the composite defects during
mechanical characterization with the help of scanning electron microscope. Finally, adopted multicriteria decision-making
technique to optimize the process parameters by considering all the obtained experimental results to satisfy the proposed
application specifically can be used for marine structure development.
Keywords: Hybrid composites, Glass fiber, Metal fiber, Numerical simulation, TOPSIS

Introduction flexibility and chance to optimize the performance, cost of

polymer hybrid composites [1,2].
In the current scenario, researchers continuously find The deviation of the positive and negative behaviour of
possibilities for replacing for the last three decades, mechanical properties of hybrid composite from the Rule of
composites materials have shown promising behaviour over mixture (RoM) is referred to as the hybrid effect [3]. The
the existing ones. The performance of polymer composites fiber with high specific strength, high modulus showing
has remarkably made them a major alternative material used brittle behaviour can be hybridized with other fiber, which
in the area of aerospace, marine, automobile, energy, shows good ductility with low specific strength, low modulus,
defense, oil, and gas sector. The demand for weight reduction and together to develop the performance-based hybrid
in the marine structure increases fuel efficiency and reduces composites. There is a rise in the amount of waste materials
hazardous emissions products. The replacement of existing produced by the industries is continuing to intensify the
materials with polymer composites materials is quite a problems associated with it like storage and utilization. The
challenge for the researchers as it should satisfy major possibility of using waste materials as a reinforcement in
properties related to the development of marine structures. composites is being presented by many researchers [4-6].
The reinforced fiber or filler used in polymer composites has The chips produced during the machining process are
a major role in achieving strength over the individual considered a waste material and stored in bundles of fibers.
component. There is a significant advancement in selecting These fibers have good thermal conductivity, high density
fiber according to the requirement to develop lightweight compared to glass fibers, good ductility, and such improved
materials. In response to the new developments in mechanical properties [7] presented in these fibers provide
lightweight materials, the research interests in hybridization an advantage to selecting fiber reinforcement for hybridization
are greatly revived. The hybridization of two different types in polymer composites.
of fibres as a reinforcement is used in polymer matrix to The performance, weight, and cost are the most important
generate hybrid composites based upon the end user parameters that stimulate hybrid composites' development.
application. The same is to overcome the limitation of one The effect of fiber hybridization on the mechanical properties
type of fibre over another fibre, either for natural fibre, of fiber-reinforced polymer composites materials has been
synthetic fibre, or depending on the type of applications. reported by many researchers [8-11]. In past studies, glass
Therefore, the hybridization of fiber provides the design fiber was hybridized with carbon [12-15] and kevlar [13,16-
20] fiber. The hybridization of glass and carbon fiber [21],
*Corresponding author: [email protected] glass and aramid fiber [22,23], glass and kevlar fiber [19]

1342
Hybrid Glass/Metal Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 1343

were carried out to predict the mechanical, thermal and and reported maximum storage modulus attained at 40 wt %
thermomechanical properties both in experimentally and because of maximum stress transfer between matrix and
numerically. There have been various findings from fiber.
previous research on the effect of fiber hybridization on Abdeljalil et al. [20] conducted the study on thermal and
mechanical properties. Pandya et al. [24] noted the in-plane mechanical characteristics of high-performance polymer
mechanical properties of hybrid composites reinforced with composites made of short Kevlar/glass fiber blended with
carbon/E-glass and epoxy resin. The ultimate strength was cyanate ester/benzoxazine resin and reported the excellent
maximum when placing carbon fiber at the core and glass behaviour of hybrid with respect to unfilled due to good
fiber at the exterior surface. The tensile and compressive dispersion and adhesion of fiber in the matrix and also
strength of hybrid composites gains up to 42 % and 10.6 %, promoted to use in the aerospace and military application.
respectively. Chinnasamy et al. [29] evaluated the thermogravimetric
Kretsis [1] conducted a survey-based review on the basic analysis and thermo-mechanical analysis of glass/Kevlar
mechanical properties (tensile, flexural, compression and hybrid composites mixed with modified epoxy composites
shear) done by other researchers and available models to and concluded that due to hybridization of fibers the glass
predict the properties of hybrid fiber reinforced plastics. transition temperature was increased without affecting the
Feleipe et al. [25] conducted a study on the hybridization of thermal stability. The researchers have used the use of metal
glass/Kevlar fiber strands mixed with polyester resin and as a fibre reinforcement in development of hybrid composite.
evaluated the mechanical properties based on environmental Sakthivel et al. [30] had conducted the study on the effect of
thermal aging. It was reported that hybrid laminate with stainless-steel wire mesh (SSWM) by hybridizing with glass
varying percentages shows a predominant effect over the fiber in the epoxy matrix through hand layup process. They
monolayer fiber composites. The tensile strength of hybrid investigated the mechanical properties of the hybrid
glass steel reinforced polymer composites was experimentally composite and found that 52.5 % GF and 10 % SSWM and
investigated by monolithic, open-hole tensile test and half remaining epoxy show better mechanical strength compared
cyclic tensile test. It was evaluated that the strength of hybrid to different stacking configurations.
composite with 8 % steel fiber outperformed another hybrid Truong et al. [31] fabricates the hybrid epoxy composite
configuration. The hybridization of glass and carbon woven made of carbon fiber and SSWM through the hand layup
fabric was carried out by Zhang et al. [26] investigated the process and reported the tensile behaviour of hybrid
effect of stacking sequence on tensile, compression and composite. They found that the maximum layer of carbon
flexure properties. It was revealed that the carbon layer at fiber stacked together with SSWM shows better tensile
core and glass fiber at surface layer composite were in good properties from different stacking configurations. Jesthi et
agreement compared to other sequences. Pui Yan Hung et al. al. [32] investigates the mechanical behaviour of hybrid
[27] experimentally investigated the low-velocity impact composites made of carbon fiber and glass fiber fabricated
response of hybrid composite (glass/carbon) used for by hand layup method in dry and seawater medium. The
aerospace applications. It was revealed that the carbon fibre result shows promising tensile behaviour in a dry condition
layer on the top and bottom surface with glass fiber at core as compared to sea water medium. It was also revealed that
was less prone to damage than another configuration. stacking arrangement does not affect the mechanical
Dong et al. [21] performed the three-point bend test on the properties of hybrid composites in both medium. Caitlin
S-2 Glass and T700S carbon fiber reinforced hybrid O’Brien et al. [33] fabricated hybrid composites using
composite at different span to length ratios and was vacuum bagging method by mixing glass fiber and weaved
simulated using FEA. The maximum flexure strength was stainless steel fiber in epoxy resin and reported mechanical
obtained for [0G/07C] composite with an increase in span to characteristics of hybrid composite over non hybrid
depth ratio. The glass fiber was hybridized with Kevlar fiber composite. It was concluded that hybrid composite has
to evaluate the tensile, flexure, and impact behaviour higher stiffness in comparison of non-hybrid composites.
experimentally and validated with FEA simulation. Nabeel In this research work, industrial waste metal fiber is used
et al. [18] noted that tensile strength increases with an as a reinforced fiber and hybridized with E-glass fiber with
increase in the percentage of Kevlar fiber and decreases with symmetrical sequence and fabrication of hybrid metal fiber
an increase in the percentage of glass fiber. On the contrary, reinforced epoxy composites by vacuum-assisted resin
flexure strength increases with increased percentage of glass transfer molding under controlled pressure conditions. The
fiber and decreases with an increase in the percentage of physical (density, void content, and water absorption),
Kevlar fiber. The severely damaged area for glass fiber was mechanical (tensile and flexural strength, tensile and
also reported due to drop weight impact test. Sandeep flexural modulus, interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) and
Kumar et al. [28] investigated the thermo-mechanical impact energy), thermal (thermal conductivity and weight
correlations of short glass and carbon fiber varying from loss %), and thermo-mechanical (storage modulus, loss
(20-50 wt.%) mixed with vinyl ester resin hybrid composites modulus, damping factor, and Cole-Cole plot) properties are
1344 Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 Pankaj Agarwal et al.

evaluated for all the fabricated composites. The finite

element analysis of mechanical and thermal properties is
carried out and compared with experimental results. At last,
the MCDM method is applied to rank the best alternative
from all fabricated hybrid composites, which can be further
utilized to develop the hybrid composites for the marine
environment application.

Experimental

Materials Figure 2. Composite sequence and configuration.

In the present research, hybridization of reinforcement
material is carried out by using E-glass fiber (aerial density compositions are prepared: The first type four layers of E-
400 GSM) and metal fiber (Fine grade steel wool) which has glass fiber and one metal fiber layer. In the second type, six
been procured from the Vincenzo Solutions Pvt. Ltd. India. layers of glass fiber and two-layer of metal fiber: In the third
The properties of glass fiber (Figure 1a) and metal fiber type, eight layers of glass fiber and three layers of metal
(Figure 1b) is presented in Table 1. Fiber selection is made fiber & in the fourth and last type four-layer of metal fiber
upon its mass availability, high strength, and cheaper than are sandwiched.
other fiber. The matrix material used for the preparation of Phase-II: Fabrication Process
composite is CY-230 epoxy resin along with HY 951 The fabrication of hybrid composites is carried out by
hardener is purchased from Excellence Resins, Meerut India using a vacuum-assisted resin transfer moulding (VARTM)
and mixed in the ratio of 10:1(w/w) as recommended by the process and composites with a 300 mm×300 mm dimension
supplier. The SEM images of glass fiber and metal fiber are (Figure 3). The advantage of this process over other
presented in Figure 1. fabrication processes is the resin impregnation by the
pressure difference [4,34,35]. At the first stage of setting up
Fabrication of Hybrid Composites the VARTM, a thin layer of mold releasing agent is spread
Phase-I: Stacking Sequence on the surface of glass mold for the easy removal of the
In the first phase, the stacking sequence for the hybrid composites panels after curing. In the second stage, the
composites is carried out by sandwiching one layer of metal layers with different stacking sequences are placed on the
fiber between the two pairs of glass fiber, as shown in Figure mold by sealing the mold periphery with the sealant tape.
2. According to the sequence, four different types of The layers are then covered with a peel ply used for the easy
removal of vacuum bag & other media, and on the top
infusion mesh is applied, which helps to accelerate the flow
Table 1. Properties of fiber and matrix
of resin. For the inflow and outflow of resin, a plastic spiral
Property Glass fiber Metal fiber Epoxy resin tube is fixed on the two opposite sides of the infusion mesh,
3
Density (g/cm ) 2.54 7.83 1.19 one end is attached to the resin container, and the other end
% elongation 4.8 - - is fixed to the vacuum pump. Finally, the whole arrangement
Apparent density (gm/cc) - 0.83-1.15 - of layers, peel ply, and infusion mesh is covered with the
flexible transparent vacuum bag by covering the boundary
Diameter of single fiber (μm) 18-20 23.71-27.45
and sealed with sealant tape. After that, the whole system is
Weave type Satin Random - rechecked to avoid leakage just before the infusion of resin

Figure 1. SEM images (a) glass fiber and (b) metal fiber.
Hybrid Glass/Metal Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 1345

Figure 3. Schematic diagram of vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) technique to fabricate hybrid composites.

1
in a vacuum molding setup, after the complete impregnation c = ------------------------------------------------------------------ (1)
 Wf /f  +  Ws /s  +  Wm /m 
of resin in the stacked layers, all the valves are closed, and
the system is remained to cure for 24 hours at room where, ρc, ρf , ρs, ρm are the density of composites, glass
temperature. fiber, steel fiber and matrix material, Wf, Ws, Wm are the
Phase-III: Specimen Preparation weight fraction of glass fiber, steel fiber and matrix material.
After completing the curing process, the composite panels The experimental density is measured using a density
are peeled off from the system and specimens of desired measurement instrument (Radwag, AS 220. R2) as per ASTM
dimension are cut by the diamond cutter according to standard D792 by following the Archimedes principle.
ASTM standards for physical, mechanical, and thermal During the process of glass fiber and steel wool reinforced
characterization. hybrid composites, the air/foreign particles may entrap,
which causes the formation of voids in the composites [36].
Physical and Mechanical Characterization The percentage of void content in the fabricated composites
Density and Void Content is measured using equation (2).
The compositions for the composite in the present
ct – cex
investigation consisted of three constituent’s viz. glass fiber, V = -------------------
- (2)
metal fiber, and matrix material. Therefore, the theoretical ct
density of the fabricated composites is calculated using where, ρct, ρcex are theoritical density and experimental
equation (1). density of composites.
1346 Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 Pankaj Agarwal et al.

Water Absorption Tensile Test

The water absorption test is carried out as per the ASTM As per the ASTM D3039, a tensile test is performed for
5229 standards. Rectangular samples size of 15×15 mm is the given composite specimen held between the hydraulic
cut from the composite panel and immersed in the distilled grips of UTM as shown in Figure 4, and subsequently, load
water at room temperature. Before immersion, the initial is applied till the fracture occurs. Then, tensile strength and
weight and dimensions of the sample are measured. These tensile modulus are evaluated from the slope of the stress-
samples are taken out at a specific time interval and wiped strain curve recorded by the software available with the
up with the tissue paper to remove the excess water on the machine.
surface and the weight using a weighing balance machine Flexural Test
with the precision of 0.1 mg (Radwag, AS 220. R2). The According to procedure A of ASTM D7264, a three-point
water absorption percentage (W) is calculated using loading system based on central loaded beam design, the
equation (3). flexural test is carried out on the given composite specimen
as shown in Figure 5. The cross-head speed is kept at a
 Wt – W0 
%W = ---------------------
-  100 (3) 1.5 mm min-1 and span to length ratio fixed to 16:1. The
W0 flexural strength (Fs) and flexural modulus (Fm) are
where, W0, Wt are the initial weight and final weight of estimated from the recorded load-displacement data using
composites. equation (4).
Mechanical Test
3PL
The mechanical properties, namely tensile, flexural, Fs = ---------2-
interlaminar shear strength, and compression of composites, 2bt
are primarily influenced by reinforced fiber and matrix 3
LP
properties. The tests are performed on a computerized Fm = ------------
3
- (4)
universal testing machine (Make: Heico, India, Load cell 4bt d
capacity 25 kN) at room temperature, and the average where, P, L, b, t, d are Peak load, span length, width of
loading rate is fixed in the order of 1.5 mm min-1. The load- specimen, thickness of specimen and deflection in
displacement curve was collected from the computer of the specimen.
testing machine. For each composite, three tests have been Inter-laminar Shear Strength (ILSS)
performed, and the average value has been taken. In The internal mode of failure causes the delamination
addition, a microstructure analysis is carried out on the between the layers and thereby results in the loss of strength.
fractured tested sample to identify the problem. Therefore, ILSS test is performed on the specimens as per
ASTM D2344, as shown in Figure 5. The results from the
plot are calculated by using the following equation (5).

Figure 5. Configuration of the three-point bending test as per

Figure 4. Configuration of the tensile test as per ASTM 3039 (a) ASTM D7264 (a) schematic view of UTM, (b) pictorial view of
schematic view of UTM, (b) pictorial view of tensile specimen flexural specimen under loading, (c) test specimen (HSG-4), and
under loading, and (c) failure of test specimen. (d) FEA contour image.
Hybrid Glass/Metal Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 1347

P pendulum to impact the unnotched and notched specimen.

ILSS = 0.75  ---- (5)
bt The energy stored by the specimen is recorded, and the
schematic diagram of the Izod impact test with the notched
where, P, b, t are peak load, width of specimen and thickness
specimen is presented in Figure 6.
of specimen.
Finite Element Analysis
Impact Test
In the present research, numerical investigation of
The impact resistance of the materials is evaluated by the
fabricated hybrid composites is performed using the finite
impact test (izod impact tester). In this test, energy absorbed
element method. The main objective of this study is to
by the materials during fracture is obtained. According to
develop a finite element model (FEM) for the mechanical
ASTM D256, the test is carried out by dropping the
and thermal behaviour of the composites and further validate
the experiment results. The advantage of using FEM is that it
helps to solve the implicit/explicit problem based upon the
complex geometries and boundary conditions and simulate
the actual phenomena in context to the real-time application
by visualizing through the graphical user interface (GUI) the
analysis tool [4,37]. To carry out the three-dimensional
numerical study, finite element analysis software, ANSYS,
is used. The finite element analysis simulates the mechanical
and thermal behaviour of hybrid glass/metal composite.
Modeling, Meshing, and Boundary Conditions
The hybrid specimen used in the experiments are precisely
Figure 6. Schematic view of IZOD Impact test as per ASTM modelled in the three-dimensional (3D) modelling tool of
D256. FEA package, i.e., ANSYS. The 3D geometry of glass/metal

Figure 7. 3D Meshed model and boundary condition of (a) tensile, (b) flexure, and (c) izod impact test specimens.

Figure 8. Experimental setup of (a) thermogravimetric analyzer and (b) dynamic mechanical analyzer.
1348 Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 Pankaj Agarwal et al.

hybrid composites is modelled in the design modeller. The of temperature in the range of 25 to 200 °C with the stepping
dimensions for the 3D model are selected from the time of 2 °C min-1.
specimen's isometric view according to ASTM standards Thermal Conductivity
presented in Figure 7. The geometry is further imported to The hot disk TPS 500 thermal conductivity analyzer is
the powerful meshing tool of FEA package. Meshing is an used to measure the thermal conductivity of fabricated
important process of any numerical analysis as its fineness composites by the transient plane source method by ISO
leads to the accuracy of solution. The discretization of the 22007-2, as shown in Figure 9(a). This test is conducted to
body into nodes and elements is carried out in meshing, identify the heat conduction property of fabricated composites.
thereby reducing the infinite degree of freedom (DoF) into In this test, a thin hot disk sensor is placed between the
finite DoF. The mesh type used in this analysis is program- opposite faces of two same composites with the dimension
controlled mesh with a mesh size of 0.005 mm. The of 25 mm×25 mm, and the rest of the other surfaces are kept
orthogonal quality of meshed body with 29646 nodes and insulated (Figure 9(b)). After this electric current is passed
17726 elements is nearer to 0.9998, and solid 186 and 20 through the sensor, which is strong enough to raise the
node element [38] is used in the 3-D analysis. To simulate sensor's temperature, the resistance between the composite is
the exact behaviour of experimental mechanical results the recorded as the function of time by the software. The amount
boundary condition presented in Figure 7 is provided to the of heat flow per unit time per unit area is calculated to
meshed body in the analysis settings of the explicit module predict the composite's thermal conductivity. The existing
of the FEA tool. The different 3D meshed model with the theoretical models viz. series model, parallel model, and
boundary conditions is shown in Figure 7. The mechanical geometric mean model (GMM) are also assessed to predict
and physical properties of the glass fiber, epoxy resin are the thermal conductivity of fabricated hybrid composites
obtained from [34] and materials properties of metal fiber [4,42,43]. The series model and parallel model are defined
used in the analysis are presented in Table 1. Failure criteria by equations (6) and (7).
are an important phenomenon that helps visualize the real
c = yg g + ys s + ym m (6)
behaviour of material when subject to load and boundary
conditions. In the present, the failure criteria used for the
1   
analysis is maximum stress theory for fiber and matrix is ----- = -----g + -----s + -----m- (7)
c g s m
adopted [39-41].
For the Geometric mean model, the effective thermal
Thermal and Thermomechanical Study conductivity is evaluated by the following equation (8).
Thermo-gravimetric Analysis   
The investigation of polymer composite materials' thermal c –  g g  s s  m m  (8)
stability behavior in different environments is carried out by
the thermos-gravimetric analysis (TGA). It determines the where, αc, αg, αs, αm are the effective thermal conductivity
weight loss of material to change in time and temperature in of composites, glass fiber, steel fiber and matrix material, λg,
a controlled environmental furnace. The thermal response of λs, λm are the volume fraction of glass fiber, steel fiber, and
fabricated composites is characterized by Perkin Elmer/STA matrix material.
6000 tester, as shown in Figure 8(a) according to ASTM A Numerical Simulation Approach to Predict Effective
E1131. The sample weighing 5-10 mg is placed in the Thermal Conductivity
furnace, and the temperature ranging from 30 °C to 800 °C In the present research, 3D finite element model is
is increased at a rate of 20 °C min-1. The decomposition of developed to predict the effective thermal conductivity of
the samples is exposed to two environments, viz. air (O2) hybrid glass/metal fiber-reinforced polymer composites. The
and nitrogen (N2), inside the furnace, at a constant flow rate outcome of this finite element study is to evaluate the
of 20 ml min-1. The available tester software records the numerical thermal conductivity of hybrid composites for
mass loss of the sample. stacking sequence HSG-1, HSG-2, HSG-3 and HSG-4 and
Dynamic Mechanical Analysis further validate while comparing with the experimental
The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) is carried out to results. ANSYS FEA package is used to carry out the
predict the viscoelastic properties like storage modulus, loss simulations for predicting the thermal conductivity. The
modulus, and glass transition temperature for the fabricated finite element study is staged in three steps: modelling and
hybrid composites. This test is performed by applying the meshing, applying boundary conditions, and post-processing
stress or strain at a controlled temperature, frequency, and with user-defined results. The three-dimensional (3D) model
time. The DMA instrument (Make: Perkin Elmer, Model: of the test specimen is modelled in the Design Modeller tool
DMA 8000), as shown in Figure 8(b), is used to calculate the of ANSYS software is presented in Figure 9(c). The
viscous response of hybrid composites by ASTM D4065 in dimensions of 3D model are the same as used in the thermal
three-point bending mode with 1 Hz frequency as a function conductivity experiment. The discretization into nodes and
Hybrid Glass/Metal Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 1349

Figure 9. (a) Pictorial view of experimental set up for evaluating thermal conductivity, (b) schematic view of hot plate set up with test
sample, (c) 3D-model of test sample, (d) mesh model, and (e) exact boundary condition.

Table 2. Composite designations Table 3. Density and void content of fabricate hybrid composites
S. Composite Glass Metal Theoretical Experimental Void
Stacking sequence S. Composite
no designation fiber layer fiber layer density density fraction
no designation
1 HGS-1 (G)2-S-(G)2 4 1 (gm/cc) (gm/cc) (%)
2 HGS-2 (G)2-S-(G)2-S-(G)2 6 2 1 HSG-1 1.7033 1.6904 0.76
3 HGS-3 (G)2-S-(G)2-S-(G)2-S-(G)2 8 3 2 HSG-2 1.7090 1.6950 0.82
(G)2-S-(G)2-S-(G)2-S- 3 HSG-3 1.7130 1.6970 0.94
4 HGS-4 10 4
(G)2-S-(G)2 4 HSG-4 1.7190 1.6990 1.17

elements of 3D model shown in Figure 9(d) is carried out Results and Discussion
using the program-controlled explicit linear meshing with an
element size of 0.4 mm. Based upon the mesh refinement Density and Void Content
study the total number of nodes (63882) and elements The density of FRP composites depends upon numerous
(40432) are generated with an orthogonal quality of factors like fiber volume fraction, fabrication techniques, the
0.989754 for the accuracy of thermal results. The thermal density of individual components, testing method, etc. The
properties of glass/metal fiber and epoxy resin for the experimental density, theoretical density, and void content of
numerical study are selected to carry out the numerical fabricated glass/metal epoxy hybrid composites is presented
simulation [4,44]. Figure 9(e) represents the boundary in Table 3. The experimental density of the composite is
condition applied to the 3D model, exactly to the experiment observed as 1.6904, 1.6950, 1.6970 and 1.6990 gm/cm3 for
carried out on the test specimen explained earlier. The HSG-1, HSG-2, HSG-3 and HSG-4, respectively. The
assumptions and analysis settings used to perform the increasing density for HSG-4 is found 50.8 % compared to
numerical simulation are similar to the previous research HSG-1. It can be observed from the table that the density of
carried out by the present author [4]. The numerical composites increases with an increase in the number of
predicted thermal conductivity is further compared with the layers of glass and metal fibers. This enhancement in the
experimental and theoretical models viz. series model, density is attributed to increasing the fiber volume fraction
parallel model, geometric mean model (GMM). of metal fiber which is highly dense compared to the other
1350 Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 Pankaj Agarwal et al.

components of composite material [45]. 2.0892 % respectively. It can be observed from the figure
The void content in the composites is evaluated as the that the water absorption rate increases with an increase in
ratio between the difference of theoretical density and time and attain saturation after 120 days. It is also observed
experimental density to the theoretical density. The void that the water absorption is initially linear which follows
content of the composites is shown in Table 3. It can be seen Fick’s law and absorbs water rapidly. Composite HSG-1
that the void content percentage for the composites HSG-1, shows the minimum water absorption attributed to the better
HSG-2, HSG-3 and HSG-4 are 0.76 %, 0.82 %, 0.94 % and adhesion between fiber and matrix [49].
1.17 % respectively. The principal reason for the presence of On the other hand, the composite HSG-4 possesses
voids in the polymeric composites can be explained through maximum water absorption. This phenomenon is due to the
many reasons like resin viscosity, fiber layer misalignment higher volume fraction of the glass fiber, which soaks more
and resin inability to displace the air entrapped in the fiber water causes swelling in the fiber. This swelling created the
layers during the fabrication process [34,46]. The lowest micro crack in the matrix material, brittle in nature, results in
void content for HSG-1 is observed, attributed to the good more penetration of water molecules in the composite. Due
fiber-matrix bonding and wettability of fiber in the matrix. to an increase in glass/metal fiber content, the water
As the number of glass and metal fiber layers increases, the absorption tendency of the composite increases; hence the
void content increases, and therefore HSG-4 responds with water absorption percentage of the HSG-4 composite is
maximum void content among all the fabricated composites. found to 10 % increase relative to other hybrid composites.
The significance of high void content is prone to the The results obtained in the present study are in a similar
composites' water absorption ability, which is good when trend observed for hybrid composite [49].
this configuration of composite is used in marine application
[43]. The researchers also reported a similar trend of density Effect of Hybrid Configuration on Tensile Properties
and void content for hybrid composite [47,48]. The tensile strength and tensile modulus of the hybrid
composites as a function of fiber layers are presented in
Water Absorption Figure 11 and Table 4. The tensile properties may depend
The hybridization in composite material improves the upon fiber volume fraction [50]. It is observed that the
strength at a low cost compared to plain composites. As the composite HSG-1 exhibits the maximum tensile strength of
material considered in this investigation is mainly for marine 164.90 MPa followed by HGS-2, HSG-3 and HSG-4
application, it is important to evaluate the water absorption composites at 160.77 MPa, 149.51 MPa and 143.87 MPa,
capacity of the composite. Water absorption is defining as respectively. This decrement in the tensile strength of the
the ability to penetrate the water molecules through composite composites may be due to the intrinsic characteristics of the
material. Figure 10 illustrated the water absorption percentage fibers used as reinforcement [9]. As the glass fiber volume
against soaking time for fabricated glass/steel epoxy fraction increases, the volume fraction of the metal fiber
composites at room temperature. The water absorption increases simultaneously with an addition of the number of
percentage of composited HSG-1, HSG-2, HSG-3 and HSG- layers in the composites, resulting in poor interfacial bonding
4 are found as 1.8939 %, 1.9040 %, 1.9454 %, and and hence the tensile strength decreases.
On the contrary, the tensile modulus increases in the

Figure 11. Tensile strength and tensile modulus of fabricated

Figure 10. Water absorption of fabricated hybrid composites. hybrid composites.
Hybrid Glass/Metal Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 1351

Table 4. Mechanical properties of fabricated hybrid glass/metal fiber composites

Composite Tensile strength Tensile modulus Flexural Flexural ILSS Unnotched impact Impact energy
designation (MPa) (MPa) strength (MPa) modulus (MPa) (MPa) energy (J) (J)
HSG-1 164.90 2.13E+03 121.047 9.72E+03 13.54 23.45 21.50
HSG-2 160.78 2.90E+03 184.615 7.81E+03 15.34 27.56 24.42
HSG-3 149.51 3.61E+03 265.292 1.36E+04 18.77 30.48 28.28
HSG-4 143.88 4.18E+03 289.423 1.26E+04 20.84 33.24 30.21

Figure 12. Micrographs of tensile failure specimens (a) HSG-1, (b) HSG-2, (c) HSG-3, and (d) HSG-4.

composite with an increase in the number of glass and metal matrix failure are to be observed to define the tensile
fiber layers in the composites. The tensile modulus is strength of fabricated composites [51]. It is apparent from
computed from the slope of the curve under the elastic limit, Figure 12(a) of HSG-1 that fiber delamination occurs due to
and for composite HSG-1, HSG-2, HSG-3 and HSG-4 is the applied tensile load and less fiber pull out is seen with no
observed as 2.13 GPa, 2.90 GPa, 3.60 GPa and 4.17 GPa, voids. The region of river lines was also visualized in the
respectively. The tensile modulus for HSG-4 is almost matrix body, which defines that load applied is transferred to
double the tensile modulus of HSG-1. The improvement in the fiber [52]. The entrapped air can be seen in Figure 12(b),
the tensile modulus is attributed to the increase in the which signify the weak bonding due to metal fiber in the
volume fraction of the reinforced fibers in the composite, as matrix. It can also be observed from Figure 12(b) that while
both glass fiber and metal fiber have a higher tensile applying the tensile load, the glass fiber bundles got split
modulus compared to the matrix material. from the epoxy in the longitudinal direction and form a
The surface micro graphical analysis of the post tensile broom-like structure [51]. In Figure 12(c), matrix crack is
test specimen is carried out to understand the failure seen due to the failure of fibers that further results in the
mechanism that contributes to the failure of composites. stress concentration acting at the crack region and helps in
Figure 12(a) to (d) represents the visual examination done governing crack propagation that results in a decrease in
from the SEM images of tensile fracture specimens for tensile strength of HSG-3 composite. However, this type of
hybrid composites HSG-1, HSG2, HSG-3 and HSG-4, phenomenon is not observed for metal fiber (Figure 12(d)).
respectively under 500 µm magnification. The fracture That may be due to the volume fraction of metal fiber
mechanism like fiber pull out, fiber matrix delamination and increases, automatically the bonding strength between glass
1352 Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 Pankaj Agarwal et al.

Figure 13. Finite element simulation contour plots of tensile strength for (a) HSG-1, (b) HSG-2, (c) HSG-3, and (d) HSG-4.

fiber and matrix decreases, leading to rise in longitudinal HSG-1, HSG-2, HSG-3 and HSG-4 presenting the
splitting, voids and cavities in the composites. Equivalent (Von-Mises) stresses, which is an ardent factor
for the finite element analysis. The FEA images show the
Finite Element Analysis of Tensile Test real-time behaviour of the hybrid composites when subjected
The implementation of finite element modelling is carried to different loading conditions. It is also presented from the
out to numerically predict the tensile behaviour of hybrid figure that HSG-1 depicts maximum Equivalent (Von-
glass/metal fiber composite performed during the tensile Mises) stresses of 168.76 MPa compared to the experimental
test. This study demonstrates the tensile failure response of results within 2.287 percentage of error. During the simulation,
the test hybrid composites. Figure 13(a) to (d) illustrates the the time step was given to the explicit dynamics, which
FEM simulation images of the composites specimen viz. helps depict the exact response carried by the test specimen
Hybrid Glass/Metal Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 1353

maximum load before its failure [5]. The fabricated composites

HSG-1, HSG-2, HSG-3 and HSG-4 are tested on a three-
point bending test to evaluate the bending strength. The
results obtained by performing the three-point bending tests
are plotted to assess the flexural strength and flexural
modulus of fabricated hybrid glass/metal fiber composites
for different configurations. They are presented in Figure 15
and Table 4. The interpretation from the results shows that
flexural strength is minimum for HSG-1 at 120.05 MPa and
maximum for HSG-4 at 289.42 MPa accompanied by HSG-
2 at 184.61 MPa and HSG-3 at 265.29 MPa. The increasing
trend of flexure strength is attributed to the increase in the
metal fiber content compared to the glass fiber content and
bulk modulus of metal fiber is higher than that of glass fiber,
which improves the bending strength of fabricated hybrid
composites [53]. The flexural modulus of fabricated composites
also follows the same increasing trend as presented in Figure
15. Performance of HSG-4 reports for maximum flexural
Figure 14. Tensile failure response of hybrid composites at modulus at 11.8 GPa followed by the decreasing in trend of
different time-step. HSG-3, HSG-2 and HSG-1 at 11.2, 6.48 and 4.19 GPa,
respectively. The perfect bonding between the fiber and
epoxy resin also increases the composites' flexure strength
to record stages of the failure. Figure 14 presents the exact and flexural modulus. These results obtained are in good
failure response of the specimen at different time steps. It is agreement with another researcher [18]. It may also be
noticeable from the figure that the metal fiber (reinforced further concluded that HSG-4 performs better against the
material) has the signature on the elastic properties of the load applied from all the fabricated hybrid composites and
hybrid composites. The numerical results predicted by the may provide the advantage to use these hybrid composites
FEA are in good agreement with the experimental results, as for the floor application in the marine environment.
shown in Table 5, which shows that the finite element model The SEM images of flexural fractured surfaces of HSG-1,
and material model used during the simulation is dependable HSG-2, HSG-3 and HSG-4 are presented in Figures 16(a) to
in the prediction of tensile behaviour of hybrid composites (d), respectively. The fiber pull-out can be visualized in
specimen. Figure 16(a) due to the propagation of crack reaching the
fiber and matrix interface. Fiber-matrix delamination and
Effect of Hybrid Configuration on Flexural Properties matrix crack phenomena are also observed due to fiber and
The flexure strength is an important mechanical property matrix's poor adhesion. This may be due to the flexure load
defined as the material bending strength to withstand the applied, and at a certain point the fiber matrix fails to bear
the load. Figure 16(b) fiber imprints signify the delamination
of fiber from the matrix also represent the excellent
interfacial bonding between fiber and matrix. During
flexural loading, the deformation of matrix materials occurs,
and cusp-like structures are created in the matrix that can be
observed in Figure 16(b) [52,54]. The failure of metal fiber
can also be observed in Figure 16(b). For the HSG-3

Table 5. Error % between experimental results and finite element

results
S. Composite Tensile strength (MPa)
Error (%)
no specimen Experimental FEA
1 HSG-1 164.90 168.76 2.28
2 HSG-2 160.77 160.99 0.13
3 HSG-3 149.51 151.9 1.57
Figure 15. Flexural strength and flexural modulus of fabricated
4 HSG-4 143.87 142.92 0.66
hybrid composites.
1354 Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 Pankaj Agarwal et al.

Figure 16. Micrographs of flexural failure specimens (a) HSG-1, (b) HSG-2, (c) HSG-3, and (d) HSG-4.

Figure 17. Finite element simulation contour plots of flexural strength for (a) HSG-1, (b) HSG-2, (c) HSG-3, and (d) HSG-4.

composites, as the flexure load increases, the matrix crack is flexural strength of hybrid glass/steel fiber-reinforced
observed prior to the failure, as presented in Figure 16(c). composites and the predicted FEA results are compared with
The bending of glass fiber subjecting to flexure load is the experimental results. The flexure test specimens, namely
observed in Figures 16(c) and (d). HSG-1, HSG-2, HSG-3 and HSG-4 used for the numerical
simulation, are given the boundary condition as shown in
Finite Element Analysis of Flexure Test Figures 17(a) to (d). The FEA simulation results of hybrid
The finite element model is developed to predict the composites with different configurations for flexure test are
Hybrid Glass/Metal Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 1355

presented in Figure 17. The stress plots shown in the figure section of the specimen. It is also revealed that the stacking
revealed that the flexure strength of the hybrid composites sequence of glass/metal fiber layers has significance on the
depends upon the binding strength of glass and metal fiber flexure strength of the hybrid composites. The numerical
with epoxy matrix and HSG-4 inhibits maximum flexure results predicted by the FEA and experimental results are
strength of 293.97 MPa, which is located at the middle presented in Table 6. It shows that the FEA results agree
with the experimental results within the 1.57-4.18 percentage
of error.
Table 6. Error % between experimental results and finite element
results
Effect of Hybrid Configuration on ILSS Properties
S. Composite Flexural strength (MPa) Error The inter laminar shear strength (ILSS) test is performed
no specimen Experimental FEA (%) to determine the failure effect between the inter laminar
1 HSG-1 121.04 126.1 4.18 fibers when subjected to shear stress [6]. The ILSS of the
2 HSG-2 184.61 181.47 1.70 fabricated hybrid composites is presented in Figure 18 and
3 HSG-3 265.29 268.14 1.07
Table 4. The ILSS of HSG-1 is found to be at 13.54 MPa and
with the increase in the percentage of metal fiber volume
4 HSG-4 289.42 293.97 1.57
fraction, ILSS of the hybrid composites HSG-2, HSG-3, and
HSG-4 also tend to increase with the values of 15.34 MPa,
18.77 MPa, and 20.84 MPa respectively. The improvement
in the ILSS is attributed to the mechanical interlocking
present between fiber and matrix, which provide sufficient
strength for the stress transfer at the interface and withstand
against the concentric load. A similar trend has also been
reported by previous researcehers [55].

Table 7. Error % between experimental results and finite element

results
S. Composite Inter laminar shear strength (MPa) Error
no specimen Experimental FEA (%)
1 HSG-1 13.54 13.86 2.36
2 HSG-2 15.34 16.24 5.86
3 HSG-3 18.77 18.40 1.97
Figure 18. Inter laminar shear strength (ILSS) of fabricated hybrid
4 HSG-4 20.84 21.19 1.67
composites.

Figure 19. Finite element simulation contour plots of ILSS strength for (a) HSG-1, (b) HSG-2, (c) HSG-3, and (d) HSG-4.
1356 Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 Pankaj Agarwal et al.

Finite Element Analysis of ILSS Test stiffness than the experimental results. Table 7 shows the
The finite element analysis of the interlaminar shear error percentage between FEA results and experimental
strength of hybrid glass/fiber composites is carried out and results. The predicted FEA results are in good agreement
simulated results are compared predicted with the with the experimental results within the maximum 5.86
experimental results. The contour of Von-Mises stress for percentage error.
the hybrid composites HSG-1, HSG-2. HSG-3 and HSG4
are presented in Figure 19(a) to (d), respectively. The Effect of Hybrid Configuration on Impact Properties
variation of maximum equivalent stress is visualized from The variation of impact energy for the notched and un-
Figure 19 and the predicted FEA results have higher notched specimen of fabricated hybrid composites performed
by the Izod impact tester according to ASTM D256 is
presented in Figure 20 and Table 4. The impact energy
absorbed by the composite HSG-1 is 21.50 J, which
increases to 24.42 J for HSG-2, 28.28 J for HSG-3 and
30.21 J for HSG-4. The experimental results show that the
impact energy of fabricated composites increases with an
increase in metal fiber volume fraction, which acts as
secondary reinforcement, and HSG-4 performs better
against sudden impact load. This increment is due to strong
bonding between the reinforced fibers and matrix, which
resists the rupture [55], and metal fiber has high toughness
[7], which is attributed to better impact resistance. The
experiment is also carried out on the un-notched test
specimens of hybrid composites to evaluate the impact
energy and experiment values of notched hybrid composites.
Figure 20 shows the impact energy of the un-notched
specimen is higher than the value of the notched specimen,
Figure 20. Un-notched and notched impact energy of fabricated and the same increasing behaviour for hybrid composites
hybrid composites. was reported by many researchers [6,43].

Figure 21. Micrographs of impact failure specimens; (a) HSG-1, (b) HSG-2, (c) HSG-3, and (d) HSG-4.
Hybrid Glass/Metal Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 1357

The micrographs of the test samples after Izod impact test Finite Element Analysis of Impact Test
are presented in Figures 21(a) to (d). This analysis aims to To understand the real time behaviour of the hybrid glass/
observe the influence of glass/metal fiber and behaviour of metal fiber epoxy composites the notched specimen during
epoxy resin after the impact test. Figure 21(a) shows that the the test experiment; the numerical simulation is conducted
notch surface can be seen earlier prepared by the razor by using finite element modelling. The 3D meshed model of
before the impact test. The occurrence of fiber-matrix the impact test specimen shown in Figure 22 is used for the
delamination shows that shear load transfer to fibers exceeds finite element analysis. The exact boundary condition used
the interfacial bonding strength between fiber and matrix. during the experiment is applied to the 3D model. The
The failure of glass fiber with fiber breakage and pulling out fractured behaviour predicted through the finite element
of fiber from the matrix, as shown in Figure 21(a) and (b), analysis method of HSG-1, HSG-2, HSG-3 and HSG-4 are
tends to stress concentration. Figure 21(c) the interfacial presented in Figures 23(a) to (d). It can be visualized from
bonding between fiber and matrix can be depicted due to the the figure that stress concentration at the notch is high, and
increase in the volume fraction of glass/metal fiber and fracture of the specimen occurs due to the crack propagation.
matrix that holds the specimen against the impact load. The It can also be presented from Figure 23 that when the
impact strength of the composites depends upon the pendulum hits the specimen, high strain rate is generated at
adhesion properties of fiber and matrix, which can be seen the opposite side of the notch [56] that separating the upper
from Figure 21(d) that define the HSG-4 has better impact portion of the specimen from the lower portion. The impact
resistance compared to the other three composites. The test results show the brittleness behavior of hybrid composites.
increasing impact strength with increased fiber volume The results predicted by the FEA results are in good
fraction is attributed to the more energy absorbed by the agreement with experimental results.
reinforced materials in the composite [10,43].
Effect of Hybrid Configuration on Thermal Conductivity
In the present research, thermal conductivity is evaluated
experimentally by using the transient hot plate method. The
effective thermal conductivity of fabricated hybrid composites
with a difference stacking sequence of glass and metal fiber
is plotted in Figure 24. The experimental measured values of
HSG-1, HSG-2, HSG-3 and HSG-4 are 0.4687 W/m-K,
0.4056 W/m-K, 0.3888 W/m-K and 0.4001 W/m-K
respectively. It is revealed from the figure that thermal
conductivity decreases with an increase in the number of
glass fiber layers, i.e., up to HSG-3, and 3.69 % increase in
thermal conductivity is found for HSG-4. The decrement in
the thermal conductivity of the hybrid composites is
attributed to the increasing weight fraction of epoxy resin
and the dispersion of glass/metal fiber in the matrix hinders
the movement of phonon to transfer the heat. It may also be
Figure 22. Comparison of experimental and simulation model. said that epoxy resin has a very low thermal conductivity

Figure 23. Finite element simulation for fracture profile of notched hybrid composite specimen; (a) HSG-1, (b) HSG-2, (c) HSG-3, and (d)
HSG-4.
1358 Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 Pankaj Agarwal et al.

Figure 24. Effective thermal conductivity of fabricated hybrid composites.

Table 8. Error % between experimental results and finite element

results
S. Composite Effective thermal conductivity (W/m-K) Error
no specimen Experimental FEA (%)
1 HSG-1 0.4687 0.4579 2.30
2 HSG-2 0.4098 0.4056 1.02
3 HSG-3 0.3956 0.3888 1.71
4 HSG-4 0.4102 0.4001 2.46

of all hybrid composites. The FEA predicted values are in

good agreement with the experimental value and the
correlation of percentage error is presented in Table 8. The
finite element method helps to analyze the effect of
geometrical constraints on the thermal properties of composites.
Figure 25. Contour plot of thermal conductivity through finite
Further, the experimental values of thermal conductivity of
element analysis for (a) HSG-1, (b) HSG-2, (c) HSG-3, and (d) hybrid composite are compared with the theoretical model
HSG-4. as discussed earlier. The upper bound and lower bound of
effective thermal conductivity are represented by parallel
model and series model. The GMM model is a combination
compared to other fibers present in the composites and a of series and parallel model. The order of thermal conductivity
similar type of behaviour in the hybrid composite is reported is Parallel > Experimental ~ FEA Model > GMM > Series
by the researcher [43]. models, respectively.
The finite element study is carried out to predict the
thermal conductivity of hybrid polymer composites. Figure Thermo-gravimetric Analysis
25(a) to (d) shows the contour plot of the thermal response Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) of polymer composites
Hybrid Glass/Metal Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 1359

Figure 26. (a) Variation of weight % of fabricated hybrid composites in nitrogen environment, (b) variation of derivative weight % of
fabricated hybrid composites in nitrogen environment, (c) variation of weight % of fabricated hybrid composites in air(oxygen)
environment, and (d) variation of derivative weight % of fabricated hybrid composites in air(oxygen) environment.

is carried out to identify the thermal degradation properties 51 % and 54.84 % of weight loss signifying the complete
like weight loss, phase change and absorption with an breakage of a volatile component from the composite
increase in temperature within the presence of a controlled leaving to glass and metal fibers inside the temperature near
inert environment [57]. Figure 26(a) to (d) presents the to 800 °C. The thermal degradation of composites' weight
degradation effect by plotting the thermogram and derivative loss can also be understood by observing the derivative
thermogram curve of glass/metal fiber reinforced epoxy thermograph curve presented in Figure 26(b). It can be
composites in the nitrogen and oxygen environment. In depicted from the curve that the soft peaks for I-stage
Figure 26(a), three different stages are highlighted, i.e., I- degradation of composites are observed at 194 °C, 177 °C,
stage (thermal stability), II-stage (decomposition) and III- 184 °C, and 212 °C. With the increase in temperature, the
stage (thermal degradation) under the temperature range of soft peaks are shifted to hard peaks signifying the major
(220-600 °C) in the inert nitrogen environment. Initially, at weight loss at 382 °C, 379 °C, 385 °C and 387 °C. It is also
I-stage, the weight loss of 3.4 %, 4.53 %, 3.21 % and 2.73 % observed from the thermograph curve that HSG-2 has more
of fabricated hybrid composites HSG-1, HSG-2, HSG-3 and thermal stability in the order of HSG-2 > HSG-1 > HSG-3 >
HSG-4 are observed at 178 °C, respectively. This initial HSG-4. The thermogram and derivative thermogram curve
weight loss is attributed to the removal of moisture content of fabricated hybrid composites in the air(oxygen) environment
from the hybrid composites. In the II-stage, the composite are presented in Figure 26(c) and Figure 25(d). It can be
specimen weight loss is further degraded due to the observed from Figure 25(c) that HSG-1 composites have
decomposition of less molecular weight hemicelluloses better thermal stability at higher temperatures as compared
present in resin and hardener at the temperature of 337 °C. to HSG-2, HSG-3 and HSG-4 composites. The initial weight
At the last stage, thermal degradation of HSG-1, HSG-2, loss of 4.5 % at 187 °C for HSG-1 composites is reported
HSG-3 and HSG-4 is reported nearer to 49.1 %, 40.97 %, signifying the removal of moisture from the composites at
1360 Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 Pankaj Agarwal et al.

the initial stage. As the temperature increases, the air HSG-3 > HSG4, which is due to efficient stress transferability
environment's thermal degradation continues until the between the glass/metal fibers and epoxy [28,60,61]. Figure
charred residue is obtained [20,58]. The total weight loss of 27(a) shows that the storage modulus values decline
28.72 % for HSG-1 composite is recorded at a temperature significantly between the temperature ranges of 50-90 °C,
near 800 °C. The endothermic peaks depicted in Figure due to the mobility of packed arranged molecules above the
26(d) shows the derivation weight % of fabricated hybrid glass transition temperature resultant in glassy/rubbery
composites. It is highlighted from the Figure 26(c) that transition region. Above the 90 ºC in Figure 27(a) represents
HSG-1 shows better thermal resistance in the order of HSG- the stable storage values indicating a rubbery region of the
1 > HSG-3 > HSG-4 > HSG-2. composite [28,60,61].
Figure 27(b) depicts the trends in loss modulus variation
Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) as a function of temperature for different hybrid glass/metal
Dynamic mechanical analysis of hybrid glass/metal fiber- fibers reinforced polymer composites. The inclusion of
reinforced polymer composites is performed to determine
the capacity to store elastic energy, lose energy, and the
damping factor as a function of temperature. The type of Table 9. Glass transition temperature and loss modulus of
fibers and matrix, their interfacial bonding, and fiber and fabricated hybrid composites
matrix volume fraction influences FRP composites' dynamic Loss Damping Glass transition
mechanical properties [59]. Figure 27(a) depicts the effect of Composite modulus factor temperature
temperature on the storage modulus of hybrid glass/metal (E''Max) (tan δmax) E''max Tan δmax
fibre reinforced polymer composites. The storage modulus HSG-1 1091.56 0.353 64.66 69.33
represents the amount of energy stored at the temperature in HSG-2 930.30 0.383 65.61 69.87
the composite's stiffness. At low temperature 25-50 °C
HSG-3 397.31 0.385 66.49 71.30
(below the glass transition temperature), the storage modulus
of hybrid composites are in order of HSG-1 > HSG-2 > HSG-4 249.56 0.421 67.30 72.01

Figure 27. Dynamic mechanical analysis (a), storage modulus (E') variation versus temperature of fabricated hybrid composites, (b) loss
modulus (E'') variation versus temperature of fabricated hybrid composites, (c) damping factor (tan δ) variation versus temperature of
fabricated hybrid composites, and (d) Cole-Cole plot for fabricated hybrid composites.
Hybrid Glass/Metal Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 1361

metal fibers increases in the composite causes peak of loss decision approach used to select the best performance
modulus decreases as seen in Figure 27(b). The maximum alternative from the qualitative and quantitative factors.
E'' value was highest for the composite HSG-1 (1091.56 From various MCDM methods [69-71], Technique for Order
MPa) as shown in Table 9, but decreases considerably to Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is the
remain at 930.30 MPa, 397.31 MPa and 249.56 MPa for the most effective method used to rank and select the alternatives
HSG-2, HSG-3 and HSG-4 hybrid glass/metal fiber- by evaluating the distances from positive and negative ideal
reinforced composites, respectively. The composite viscous solutions [72,73]. In the present research, identifying the
response or the energy transformed into heat subjected to best stacking sequence and ranking from all fabricated
load is determined in loss modulus (E'') [62]. The loss hybrid composites TOPSIS method is applied. The following
modulus increases as the temperature rise until it reaches the steps carry out the implementation of TOPSIS.
glass transition temperature, after which it decreases as the
temperature rises [6,34]. The glass transition temperature of C1  Cn
composite is determined by the maximum loss modulus at
the temperature where the value E'' is highest [62]. It can be Dij = P1 s11  s1n (9)
seen clearly from Figure 27(b) the glass transition temperature    
shifts from 64.66 °C to 65.61 °C, 66.49 °C and 67.30°C for Pm sm1  smn
the HSG-1, HSG-2, HSG-3, and HSG-4 composites,
respectively. This may be due to increased fiber content in Step 1: The alternatives and criteria are used together to
composite, which restricts the flow of epoxy matrix [63-65]. prepare the decision matrix (Dij).
The damping factor is associated with molecular movements Dij
and viscoelasticity and defects that lead to dampings, such as Qij = -----------------
m
(10)
dislocations, grain boundaries, phase boundaries, and i = 1Dij
various interfaces [66]. The high damping factor shows the
where, Alternative (P1, P2, P3…Pm) criteria (C1, C2, C3…Cn).
high molecular mobility due to poor adhesive bonding at the
Step 2: In the present investigation, each criteria's weight
fiber/matrix interface of the composites. While low damping
(Wj) is evaluated by using entropy method. The weight is
factors represent the improvement in the composite's load-
determined by first normalizing the decision matrix (Dij) to
bearing properties as the fiber/matrix interface bonding
get the projection value (Qij) and after that determining the
increases [34]. The glass transition temperature was shifted
entropy (εj) for each criteria by using equations (2) and (3).
from 69.33 °C to 69.87 °C, 71.30 °C, and 72.01 °C respectively
for HSG-1, HSG-2, HSG-3, and HSG-4 composites as n
j = –j = 1 Nij ln Nij  (11)
obtained for temperature corresponding to the highest
damping factor value (Figure 27(c)). The glass transition 1
where, ε is constant & defined as  = -------------
temperature (Tg) estimated from damping is higher than that ln  m 
of loss modulus but reported a similar trend. Figure 27(c) j
Wj = -------------- (12)
clearly shows that HSG-1 composite poses the lowest tan δ n
j = 1 j
peak value, which reveals better fiber/matrix interface
n
bonding compared to other composites [34,67]. where, Wj ≥ 0 & j = 1 j = 1.
Figure 27(d) shows the Cole-Cole plot, which represents The degree of diversity (γj) is calculated by using equation
the relationship between the loss modulus (E'') and the (12)
storage modulus (E'). It indicates the homogeneity of
polymeric composite materials through the shape of the  j = 1 – j (13)
Cole-Cole plot. The homogeneous nature of composite is
represented by the ideal semi-circular form of the Cole-Cole Step 3: The decision matrix is converted in the standard
curve, while the irregular shape represents the heterogeneity. dimensionless form at a common scale from 0 to 1 by
In the present study, the Cole-Cole plot of HSG-1, HSG-2, normalization. The normalized decision matrix ( Nij)
HSG-3, and HSG-4 composite was not a semi-circular curve calculated using equation (14) is presented in Table 12.
that reveals that the composites system was heterogeneous. Dij
Additionally, the curve indicates that the improvement in Nij = --------------------- (14)
m
thermal stability properties with the addition of fiber i = 1D2ij
reinforcement restricts the mobility of the polymeric chain.
[28,47,61,68]. Step 4: The different weights are applied to the criteria
and weighted normalized matrix (ψij) is determined by using
Multi-criteria Decision Making Analysis the equation (15), thereby multiplying the column of a
Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) is a discrete normalized matrix with the weight (Wj).
1362 Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 Pankaj Agarwal et al.

ij = Nij  Wj (15) equation (19).

−
i
Step 5: In this step, a positive ideal solution (I+) and RCi = ---------------
+ −
where i=1, 2…..m (19)
negative ideal solution (I−) is computed by using a weighted i – i
normalized matrix by using equations (16) and (17). Finally, the alternatives are ranked according to the
relative closeness index in descending order. Larger the
+
I =   maxi ij j  J   minj ij j  J  i = 1 2  m  closeness index, the better the alternatives among the other.
+ + + +
I =   1   2    n  (16) Ranking of Hybrid Composites
The physical, mechanical, thermal and thermo-mechanical
+
I =   mini ij j  J   maxj ij j  J  i = 1 2  m  properties of fabricated hybrid composites computed
experimentally are considered multiple criteria to select the
- - - -
I =   1  2     n  (17) best hybrid composite from HSG-1, HSG-2, HSG-3 and
HSG-4 by implementing TOPSIS method for marine
where j is associated with higher the better decision and J' applications. The importance of decision criteria based upon
with lower the better decision. the performance alternatives of hybrid composite is
Step 6: The distance between the alternative and positive highlighted in Table 10. The decision matrix is evaluated
and negative ideal solution is defined as Euclidean distance using the performance characteristics and presented in Table
(β) and measured using equation (18) 11. The attribute values in the decision matrix are converted
in the standard format common scale from 0 to 1 using
+ n + 2 1/2
i =  j = 1  1 – ij   equation (14) and the normalized decision matrix computed
is presented in Table 12. The entropy method is used to
− n − 2 1/2
i =  j = 1  ij – 1   for i = 1, 2,…m (18) evaluate the weighted normalized matrix. The positive ideal
solution (βi+) and negative ideal solution (βi−) are determined
Step 7: At the last, relative closeness index ( RCi ) for all and the relative closeness index (RCi) of each alternative is
alternatives to the ideal solution is computed by using calculated. It is observed that the HSG-4 has the highest

Table 10. Description of performance alternative for ranking of hybrid composites

Performance defining criteria (PDC)
S. no Impact on the PDC Brief description of the performance alternatives
Description Designation
1 Density (gm/cc) PDC-1 Lower the better It is derived as mass per unit volume of the material.
2 Water absorption (W%) PDC-2 Lower the better It is the amount of water absorbed by the material in a given
period of time.
3 Tensile strength (MPa) PDC-3 Higher the better It is the strength of material to withstand against the maxi-
mum load during tensile test.
4 Flexural strength (MPa) PDC-4 Higher the better It is the strength of outermost fiber to withstand against the
maximum load during flexural test.
5 Interlaminar shear strength (MPa) PDC-5 Higher the better It can be defined as the existence of maximum shear stress of
laminated material.
6 Impact energy (J) PDC-6 Higher the better The amount of the energy absorbed by the material before the
fracture.
7 Glass transition temperature (°C) PDC-8 Higher the better It is the temperature at which the glass transition phases occur.
8 Thermal conductivity (W/m-K) PDC-7 Higher the better The ability of material to conduct heat.

Table 11. Decision matrix

Composite PDC-1 PDC-2 PDC-3 PDC-4 PDC-5 PDC-6 PDC-7 PDC-8
HSG-1 1.6904 1.8939 164.90 121.047 13.54 21.50 64.66 0.4687
HSG-2 1.6950 1.9040 160.78 184.615 20.84 24.42 65.61 0.4098
HSG-3 1.6970 1.9454 149.51 265.292 18.77 28.28 66.49 0.3956
HSG-4 1.6990 2.0892 143.88 289.423 15.34 30.21 67.3 0.4102
Hybrid Glass/Metal Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 1363

Table 12. Normalized decision matrix

Composite PDC-1 PDC-2 PDC-3 PDC-4 PDC-5 PDC-6 PDC-7 PDC-8
HSG-1 2.8575 3.5869 27193.5805 14652.3783 183.3767 462.3933 4180.9156 0.2197
HSG-2 2.8730 3.6252 25848.6629 34082.8402 434.4619 596.1736 4304.6721 0.1679
HSG-3 2.8798 3.7846 22354.2368 70380.0085 352.3825 799.5699 4420.9201 0.1565
HSG-4 2.8866 4.3648 20700.1755 83765.7175 235.4520 912.6441 4529.2900 0.1683

Table 13. Relative closeness index and ranking of hybrid fiber content HSG-1 and HSG-4 composites. The decrease
composites in tensile strength is due to poor interfacial bonding. The
Composite β +
β− RC Rank hybrid composite HSG-4 withstands maximum flexural
strength and modulus of 289.42 MPa and 12.6 GPa,
i i i

HSG-1 0.255377192 0.001436099 0.005592 4

respectively. A significant increase in ILSS and Impact
HSG-2 0.157178205 0.102845552 0.3955237 3 energy of approximately 53.9 % and 40.5 % were noticed in
HSG-3 0.03795534 0.217916214 0.8516625 2 HSG-4 composites. This increment may be attributed to the
HSG-4 0.029252146 0.252594962 0.8962127 1 individual strength of glass/metal fiber and mechanical
interlocking between fiber and matrix. The FEA model was
developed to predict the mechanical properties of hybrid
closeness factor (0.8962127), attaining the rank-1 as shown composites. It was reported that FEA results are in good
in Table 13, likewise, HSG-3 has scored rank-2 with a agreement with experimental results with reasonable
relative closeness value of (0.8516625). HSG-1 has shown accuracy and lies within the range of 0.5-5.86 % error. The
poor performance with a closeness factor (0.005592), effective thermal conductivity of hybrid composites was
thereby reaching the last rank among all the composite found in HSG-3 > HSG-4 > HSG-2 > HSG-1 and recorded
configurations. values compared with the theoretical model and FEA model.
The order of bound is Parallel model > Experimental ~ FEA
Conclusion Model > GMM > Series models. The numerical simulation
exhibits good capability in predicting experimental results.
This research explores the possibility of using industrial The storage modulus (E') and loss modulus (E'') of HSG-1
waste metal fiber as a secondary reinforcement hybridized composites at ambient temperature is observed to be better
with glass fiber to fabricate the hybrid glass/metal fiber (8938.88 MPa and 1091.56 MPa) as compared with other
epoxy composites in VARTM process. The physical, series of composites, this may be due to a decrease in the
mechanical, thermal, viscoelastic properties as well as water glass/metal fiber content at lower weight percentages that
absorption of hybrid composites are investigated. The ultimately improve the viscoelastic properties of the
numerical simulation of mechanical and thermal properties composites. The Cole-Cole plot shows that hybrid composites
is also carried out. In the present research, the hybridization are heterogeneous. The weight loss of 40.9 % for HSG-2
of glass fiber and metal fiber in the varying sequence is and 28 % for HSG-1 composites is minimum and weight
carried out to fabricate the hybrid glass/metal fiber epoxy loss of 54.84 % for HSG-4 and 51.91 % for HSG-2 is
composite by using the Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer maximum recorded from the thermo-gravimetric analysis
Moulding (VARTM) technique in the controlled environment. and order of thermal stability is HSG-2 > HSG-1 > HSG-3 >
The density and void content of HSG-4 composites were HSG-4 in nitrogen medium and HSG-1 > HSG-3 > HSG-4 >
found to be 50 % and 53 % increase compared to HSG-1 HSG-2 in air medium. TOPSIS, the MCDM technique, is
composites. This may be attributed to the increase in metal utilized to identify the best alternative from the fabricated
fiber content as it holds a higher density. The water hybrid composites for marine applications based upon the
absorption trends for all hybrid composites followed the mechanical, thermal and thermomechanical properties and
Fickian behaviour at ambient temperature. It is noticed that rank of composites HSG-4 > HSG-3 > HSG-2 > HSG-1.
water absorption percentage increases with an increase in
glass/metal fiber content attributed to the voids present in the Acknowledgment
composites, which may account for an increase in the water
uptake when exposed to 120 days in distilled water. The The authors would like to acknowledge the Advanced
tensile strength of hybrid composites decreases from research lab for Tribology and Materials Research Center
164.90 MPa to 143.88 MPa. The tensile modulus increases (MRC), MNIT, Jaipur, India, to provide necessary fabrication
from 2.13 GPa to 4.18 GPa with an increase in glass/metal and testing facilities.
1364 Fibers and Polymers 2022, Vol.23, No.5 Pankaj Agarwal et al.

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