Abstract
In this study, carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy composites (CFRPs) containing multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and halloysite nanoclay were fabricated. The effects of these nanofillers (MWCNT and nanoclay) on the tensile and flexural properties of the CFRPs under different aging conditions were studied. These aging conditions included water soaking, acid soaking, alkali soaking, and thermal shock cycling. The experimental results showed that, after accelerated aging, the mechanical performance of the CFRPs decreased. The performance degradation in the soaking environment depends on the immersion temperature and immersion medium. High-temperature accelerated the aging behavior of the CFRPs, resulting in low strength and modulus. The CFRPs were more vulnerable to acid soaking and alkali soaking than water soaking. The MWCNT and halloysite nanoclay are beneficial to improve the immersion aging resistance of the CFRPs, and the additions of nanofillers delayed the performance degradation under immersion aging conditions. However, nanofillers hardly improve the aging resistance of the CFRPs under thermal shock cycling condition. The fracture morphologies were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to reflect the failure modes of the CFRPs under various aging conditions. Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy tests were used to estimate the changes in the chemical structures and properties of epoxy resin and its composites under different conditions.
Highlights
Carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy resin composites (CFRPs) have many advantages such as their lightweight, good mechanical properties, and long service life; they are widely used in many fields, including sports equipment, automobiles, aerospace, and vessels [1,2]
It is reported that epoxy resins are brittle, and that the addition of functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) increases their mechanical properties because it can form a stronger interface between the functionalized CNT and the epoxy matrix favoring the stress transfer and the participation of effective strengthening effect [8]
Nanoclay was used as a nanofiller for epoxy resins to improve their mechanical strength and thermal properties [15]; nanoclay must be added in an appropriate amount; if too much is added, the agglomerating of the nanoclay will be too strong, which will degrade the performance of the CFRPs [15,16]
Summary
Carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy resin composites (CFRPs) have many advantages such as their lightweight, good mechanical properties, and long service life; they are widely used in many fields, including sports equipment, automobiles, aerospace, and vessels [1,2]. In these application fields, CFRPs often undergo different degrees of corrosion, limiting the further development of the CFRPs [3,4]. The mechanical property degradations of the CFRPs under different aging conditions were systematically studied, which is a commonly used method to evaluate the aging behavior of the composites [21,22,23,24,25], and the related failure mechanisms were analyzed through fractographic observations by using SEM
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