ItemArticle

Development of flexible FRP butt joints between stiff FRP panels using hybrid resin and kevlar reinforcement for advanced structural applications

Title
Development of flexible FRP butt joints between stiff FRP panels using hybrid resin and kevlar reinforcement for advanced structural applications
Creator
Sutar, Aloukik V.; Ugale, Vinay; Bongale, Arunkumar; Chandrakant, R. Sonawane; Kumar, Satish; M, Harish Kumar; Chan, Choon Kit
Description
The present work focuses on developing a flexible fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) butt joint between stiff FRP panels (adherends). The goal is to ensure the joint is flexible, moisture-resistant, and abrasion-resistant, while maintaining the original FRP strength and facilitating the casting of complex and modular shapes. To achieve this, an elastomeric resin system comprising polyurethane and polyurea in an optimized ratio of 10:6 (by weight) was formulated for the flexible joint region, whereas isophthalic polyester resin was used in the stiff FRP panels. The joint was reinforced using a hybrid layup of three layers of plain-weave Kevlar fabric, with glass fiber chopped strand mat (CSM) interleaved between the Kevlar layers, over an overlap length of 50mm on both panel edges. Mechanical characterization revealed that the hybrid resin alone exhibited an average tensile strength of 16.3MPa; however, no slip was observed for the 50mm overlap of the reinforced joint, and failure occurred in the adherend. Furthermore, the joint exhibited favorable performance under abrasion, water immersion, low-temperature fatigue, and drop-weight impact testing. These results confirm that the proposed hybrid Resin-Kevlar reinforced joining approach offers a reliable pathway for fabricating flexible, durable, and high-strength FRP joints suitable for advanced structural applications. The Author(s) 2026.
Source
Discover Materials;Volume;6;Issue;1;Article No.;114;
Date
01-01-2026
Publisher
Discover
Subject
Elastomeric resin; Flexible butt joint; Kevlar reinforcement; Polyurea; Polyurethane
Coverage
Sutar A.V., College of Military Engineering, Dapodi, Pune, 411033, India; Ugale V., College of Military Engineering, Dapodi, Pune, 411033, India; Bongale A., Symbiosis Institute of Technology, Pune Campus, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India; Chandrakant R.S., Symbiosis Institute of Technology, Pune Campus, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India, Symbiosis Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India; Kumar S., Symbiosis Institute of Technology, Pune Campus, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India, Symbiosis Centre for Applied Artificial Intelligence, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India; M H.K., Department of Mechanical and Automobile Engineering, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, 560074, India; Chan C.K., Faculty of Engineering and Quantity Surveying, INTI International University, Nilai, 71800, Malaysia
Rights
All Open Access; Gold Open Access
Relation
ISSN: 27307727;
Format
online
Language
English
Type
Article

Citation

Sutar, Aloukik V.; Ugale, Vinay; Bongale, Arunkumar; Chandrakant, R. Sonawane; Kumar, Satish; M, Harish Kumar; Chan, Choon Kit, “Development of flexible FRP butt joints between stiff FRP panels using hybrid resin and kevlar reinforcement for advanced structural applications,” CHRIST (Deemed To Be University) Institutional Repository, accessed June 18, 2026, https://archives.christuniversity.in/items/show/22156.

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