Development of a lightweight BMC material using fly ash

Many mechanical and electrical devices are produced by the bulk molding compound (BMC) process, as it has many advantages, such as its fast producing speed and good surface conditions. To increase the strength, many kinds of agents, such as glass or carbon fiber, are added. In this paper, a new composition of BMC is developed using fly ash as a filler agent so that products using the developed BMC are very light and inexpensive. In addition, since fly ash is obtained by collecting exhaust gas, it is quite eco-friendly. For the developed material, the mechanical properties are obtained by a simple tensile test, and the appropriate FEM analysis option parameters are selected by comparing them with the experimental results. Therefore, the parameters can be used in designing products using the developed BMC material.