Abstract
Fracture toughness and liquid oxygen (LOX) compatibility of epoxy nanocomposites for liquid oxygen composite cryotank applications are two main concerns. In this work, a novel rigid-and-soft hybrid-microstructure modification strategy is proposed to improve these two properties simultaneously. Graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets are physically incorporated, and polyurethane (PU) particles are formed through phase-separation process. When 10 parts of PU and 0.1 parts of GO are added into 100 parts of epoxy (i.e., 10 phr PU and 0.1 phr GO), the fracture toughness is enhanced by 207.26 % at room temperature and 243.02 % at 90 K, respectively. Meanwhile, no sensitivity phenomena such as explosion, burning, flash, or charring for the nanocomposite are observed during liquid oxygen impact testing. Consequently, experimental characterizations and multiscale finite element models are utilized to reveal the synergistic effects of GO and PU on fracture behaviors and impact energy absorption.
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