Abstract
The monotonic and cyclic properties of carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy (CFEP) laminate specimens with matrices modified by multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) were experimentally studied. The laminate specimens were fabricated by the hand lay-up procedure and six MWCNT:GNP weight ratios, i.e., 0:0, 10:0, 0:10, 5:5, 9:1, and 1:9, were considered to prepare the nanoparticle-modified epoxy resin by using an ultrasonic homogenizer and a planetary centrifugal mixer. Then, these laminate specimens with their matrices modified under various nanofiller ratios were employed to investigate the influence of the number of nanofiller types and hybrid nanofiller ratios on the quasi-static strength, fatigue strength, and mode I fracture toughness. The experimental results show that adding individual types of nanoparticles has a slight influence on the quasi-static and fatigue strengths of the CFEP laminates. However, the remarkable synergistic effect of MWCNTs and GNPs on the studied mechanical properties of the CFEP laminates with matrices reinforced by hybrid nanoparticles has been observed. Examining the evolution of stiffness-based degradation indicates that adding hybrid nanoparticles to the matrix can reduce the degradation effectively. The high experimental data of the mode I fracture toughness of hybrid nano-CFEP laminates demonstrate that embedding hybrid nanoparticles in the matrix is beneficial to the interlaminar properties, further improving the fatigue strength. The pushout mechanism of the MWCNTs and the crack deflection effect of the GNPs suppress the growth and linkage of microcracks in the matrix. Furthermore, the bridging effect of the nanoparticles at the fiber/matrix interface retards the interfacial debonding, further improving the resistance to delamination propagation.
Highlights
Introduction iationsDue to the characteristics of high specific stiffness and strength, carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates have been widely applied in the structures of vehicles, aircrafts, ships, and wind turbines
For the carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy (CFEP) laminates modified by graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) only, the crack deflection effect caused by the direction change or by the bifurcation of the crack front is the main enhancement mechanism at the microcrack development stage
The nano-CFEP laminate specimens with matrices modified under a multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs):GNP
Summary
Due to the characteristics of high specific stiffness and strength, carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates have been widely applied in the structures of vehicles, aircrafts, ships, and wind turbines. Many efforts have been made to improve the fatigue strength of FRP laminates by interrupting or retarding the evolution of the failure mechanism [3,4]. Due to the characteristics of the laminates, FRP composites have high in-plane strength, but the out-of-plane properties are not as expected. Many strategies, such as stitching [5,6], z-pinning [7,8,9], three-dimensional
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