Strain dependent hysteresis in XNBR-CNT nanocomposites

Abstract

Advanced nanocomposites are in the focus now owing to their prominently enhanced properties that can be designed even at low filler loading. The current literature has not much explored the application of nanocomposites for vibration damping applications – especially the impact of transient strain effects.This study focusses on the effect of incorporation of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNT) in carboxylated nitrile rubber (XNBR) and the effect of applied strain and volume fraction of MWNT on the damping properties, as studied in a universal testing machine in tensile and compression modes.In the compression mode, the percent damping decreases initially up to 0.5 vf of MWNT and then increases and remains constant. The percent damping varies from 16-35%. In the tensile mode, the damping increases continuously with increasing nanofiller content, with percent damping varying from 22-38%. The results indicate that the same nanocomposite behaves differently depending on the type and amount of strain, especially where the damping is important as in the case of vibration isolation and vibration damping applications.