Evaluation of ILSS of Seawater-Immersed GFRP Composites by Adopting Taguchi Method

Abstract:

The ‘one variable at a time’ method adopted in general to examine the effect of process variables on the response of any treated sample is dispensed with by adopting Taguchi method of experimental optimization using Minitab-18. The effect of simultaneous variations of time of exposure to seawater ageing, salinity of seawater and strain-rate variations on Inter Laminar Shear Strength (ILSS) of seawater immersed hand-laid-up E-glass fibre/epoxy laminated composites with 50:50 weight fraction have been, thus, statically analyzed. These factors are systematically varied within pre-determined ranges [salinity 30-40 ppt, time 30-90 days of immersion) and rate of loading (1-9 mm/min)]. The statistical methods are implemented to eliminate the likely inaccuracy of one variable at a time methods generally adopted for determination of the response variable. Inter laminar shear strength (ILSS) alterations as consequences of variations of the factors mentioned above are experimentally determined. Using these experimental values, empirical equations are developed for the response variable, the inter laminar shear strength (ILSS), adopting factorial design technique and Taguchi method with 95% confidence. To validate the empirical equation, thirty additional samples were tested with random variations of the factors within the pre-determined ranges. The corresponding ILSS values were also calculated using the developed equations. The observed and calculated responses showed a high level of agreement.

• Periodical: Materials Science Forum (Volume 1171)
• Pages: 3-9
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-0tiRpU
• Online since: December 2025
• Authors: Pravat K. Satapathy, Surya Narayan Pati, Upendra Kumar Mohanty, Sasanka Choudhury, Subhrajit Beura*
• Keywords: Ageing, GFRP Composite, ILSS, Taguchi Method

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