Studies on Flexural and Thermal Response of Hand-Layup Carbon/Epoxy Composites

摘要

Nanomer I-28E nanoclay, a natural montmorillonite modified with onium ion, was used to modify the matrix of carbon fiber/SC-15 epoxy composites to determine the effects of particle reinforcement on the response of these materials to flexural and thermo-mechanical loading. Control samples of woven carbon fiber/epoxy were fabricated along with different weight percentages of nanoclay dispersed in SC-15 epoxy using sonication route. The nanophased epoxy was then used to manufacture plain weave carbon/epoxy nanocomposites using hand-layup process followed by vacuum bagging. Thermal post curing was also carried out on these samples. 3-point bend flexure and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) studies were carried out on 8 and 3 layered samples respectively. Results of flexural tests indicate significant improvements in flexural strength and modulus for nanoclay reinforced composites as compared to the control samples. DMA studies also showed enhancement in thermo-mechanical properties especially in storage modulus though there was not any appreciable change seen in glass transition temperature, T{sub}g. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies were carried out to study the microstructural details of control and nanophased samples to understand the effect of nanoclay on the microstructure and the failure modes.