High Velocity Impact Response and Damage Mechanism of an Aluminium/Glass-Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composite Plate Reinforced with Graphene Nano-plates

Abstract

The interface of fiber-polymer matrix has a critical role in controlling the mechanical features of polymer composites. Most of the studies focused on the application of reduced graphene oxide in enhancing the interfacial properties of the composite. In this study, we focused on utilising the Graphene nano-plates (GNPs) with average diameter of 5–10 µm. The GNPs were assessed by different techniques of XRD and AFM. The GNPs incorporated into the epoxy matrix, and then the high velocity impact response was evaluated. The result of GNPs incorporation into the epoxy matrix showed that the 0.3 wt.% GNPs incorporation into the glass fiber epoxy matrix and 0.9 wt.% GNPs incorporation into the glass-carbon fiber/epoxy were destructive on the absorption energy of the composite. The optimum concentration of the incorporated GNPs highly dependent upon the type of fiber in the matrix and the level of initial velocity in the impact test. Although the high concentration of GNPs (up to 0.9 wt.%) dispersed at the interface of the glass fiber/epoxy resin can induce the high velocity impact performance, but it resulted in the reduction of the impact performance of glass-carbon fiber/epoxy due to the agglomeration of the GNPs.