FATIGUE PERFORMANCE OF CARBON FIBER REINFORCED HYBRID NANOCOMPOSITES.

Due to its high strength and low weight properties, structural components made from carbon fiber reinforced composites (CFRCs) are increasingly being utilized in the automotive, aerospace, and wind power industries. A common matrix material for these composites is epoxy resin, which it is very brittle in nature and limits applications of these CFRCs. Introducing rubber fillers is known to increase the toughness of epoxy resin, but is at the expanse of strength and modulus. However, nanosilica particles have been known to increase mechanical properties when added to epoxy resin. Therefore, this research focuses on the effects of introducing both core-shell rubber elastomer nanoparticles and nanosilica particles into the matrix to form a hybrid carbon fiber reinforced epoxy nanocomposite. The nanoparticles were dispersed into the epoxy resin through high shear mixing and the composites were manufacturing using the Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM) process. Analyzing the dispersion and structure of the resulting nanocomposites was done using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Furthermore, the static mechanical and fatigue properties were characterized. In characterizing the fatigue, a S-N curve and stiffness degradation model was developed. The hybrid showed increases in tension, flexural, and inter-laminar shear strength compared to the control composite. The hybrid also showed significant enhancements in fatigue life and stiffness degradation when compared to the control composite, as well as composites containing only the core-shell or silica nanoparticles. This research could further support future work related to the expansion of carbon fiber reinforced nanocomposites structural application in the automotive, aerospace, and wind power industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]