Abstract
The geometrical features of nanofibers, such as nanomat thickness and the diameter of nanofibers, have a significant influence on the toughening behavior of composite laminates. In this study, carbon/epoxy laminates were interleaved with polysulfone (PSF) nanofibrous mats and the effect of the PSF nanomat thickness on the fracture toughness was considered for the first time. For this goal, the nanofibers were first produced by the electrospinning method. Then, double cantilever beam (DCB) specimens were manufactured, and mode-I fracture tests were conducted. The results showed that enhancing the mat thickness could increase the fracture toughness considerably (to about 87% with the maximum thickness). The toughening mechanism was also considered by presenting a schematic picture. Micrographs were taken using a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
Highlights
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) are among the most common composite laminates used in different industries, especially in the automotive and aerospace industries
Using thermoplastics as additives in thermoset-based CFRPs is an attractive method for enhancing their fracture toughness [11,12,13,14]
Increasing one more layer of PSF between the laminate had a significant effect on the maxmodified sample (PSF-III), increasing the nanofibrous mat thickness led to an enhancement imum load and fracture toughness and enhanced the GIC by about 41%
Summary
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) are among the most common composite laminates used in different industries, especially in the automotive and aerospace industries. Using thermoplastics as additives in thermoset-based CFRPs is an attractive method for enhancing their fracture toughness [11,12,13,14] These additives can be in the form of particles [15,16,17,18], film [19,20], or fibers [21,22,23,24,25,26], and range in size from nano- to micrometers. The effect of the mat thickness of nylon 66 and PVDF was considered by Brugo et al [46] and Saghafi et al [36,47] They showed that increasing the mat thickness led to an enhancement of mode-I and mod-II fracture toughness. A scanning electron microscope was utilized for determining the toughening mechanism
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