USING DISPERSION AND WETTING CONTROL TO IMPROVE INTERFACIAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CARBON FIBER/MODIFIED NANO-SIC EPOXY COMPOSITES

摘要

Significant improvements in mechanical properties (particularly stiffness) results from the appropriaternaddition of micro-carbon fibers in the nano- and hetero-structures of modified nano-SiC filled epoxyrnmatrix composites. The optimum dispersion conditions were found to be significantly dependent bothrnthe amount of nano-SiC filler and the sonication time. To investigate these dispersion effects,rncomposites were fabricated with 5 different nano-SiC filler concentrations and compared to thernuntreated composite. Changes in electrical capacitance were used as a measure of the comparativerndegree of dispersion in these nano-SiC-epoxy composites. FE-SEM was used to observe therninterfacial changes for the different surface conditions, and the mechanical damage was evaluated byrninspection of fractured surfaces. Optimal conditions of dispersion, interfacial adhesion and aspectrnratio of the modified nano-SiC fillers were found to improve the composites mechanical properties.