The determination of chemical resistance to chemical reagents, fire retardant and flexural strength of commercial glass reinforced fiber / Ismarul Nizam Ismail

The glass-reinforced fïbre (GRP) is composites made by reinforcing a resin with glass fïbre. They have two particuiar interesting characteristics. They can be given a mechanical strength greater than any other plastics composites, comparable on a weight basis with some metats and they also can be moulded without heat or pressure. The work present in these investigations carried out to determine the chemical resistance, fire retardant and flexural strength of commercial GRP materials intended for fume cupboard production. The two materials used in these investigations are GeneralPurpose (G/P) and Perchloric Acid (P/A) fume cupboards supplied by SERVCO Resources Sdn Bhd, Shah Alam. The objectives of these investigations were to determine the changes in weight, thickness and physical appearance of the specimens after immersion in the chemical reagents, to determine the linear burning rate of the specimens, and to determine the flexural strength of the specimens, In these investigations, the specimens were exposed to various chemical reagents classified as mineral acids, organic acids, polar solvents and non-polar solvents. The changes in physical appearances are swelling, shrinlring and discoloration. For the fire retardant test, specimens were exposed to ftame for 30 s and the rate of the burning was determined from the distance the flame travelled and stopped. For the flexural strength test, Testometer Micro 500 was used at a loading edge moving rate of lOmm/min ± 2mm and deflection of 20mm.