Experimental investigation of the effect of alumina nanoparticles on the mechanical properties of epoxy-polyurethane blend with fiber reinforcing.

This work presents an experimental study of the effect of adding alumina nanoparticles (AL2O3) with different concentrations (1, 2, 3, and 4 wt.%) on the mechanical properties of the epoxy-polyurethane resin reinforced by hybrid fibers. The laminate composites were prepared by a hand layup method using only three layers of carbon fibers and E-glass woven with different stacking sequences. The scanning electron microscope examined the fracture surface behavior of the hybrid nanocomposite. The experimental results showed an improvement in the nanocomposite's mechanical properties by adding (AL2O3). Based on the results, nanocomposite with (2 wt%) (AL2O3) has the highest mechanical properties. However, the mechanical properties gradually decrease as more alumina nanoparticles are added. The hybrid composites material with different stacking sequences has been filled with (2 wt%) of (AL2O3), resulting in improved mechanical properties. The result also shows that tensile strength, tensile modulus, and natural frequency were increased with the increase of carbon fibers volume fraction. The damping ratio and failure strain increase with the increase of the E-glass woven volume fraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]