Influence of Nano-Modification on the Interlaminar Shear Strength of Unidirectional Glass Fiber-Reinforced Epoxy Resin
- 1 R & D Centre, Department of Mechanical Engineering, R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore, India
- 2 R & D Centre, Department of Mechanical Engineering, R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore, India
- 3 R & D Centre, Department of Mechanical Engineering, R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore, India
Abstract
Interlaminar shear properties of the fibre reinforced polymer composites are very important in many structured applications. It has been reported that interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of fibre reinforced polymer composites may be improved by the modification of the matrix. In this paper, diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA)/triethylene tetramine (TETA) system is used as the starting epoxy matrix. Alumina nanoparticles are employed to modify the epoxy matrix at various concentrations. Unmodified and modified epoxy resins are used along with unidirectional glass fibres for fabricating composite laminates by vaccum bagging method. The interlaminar shear strength of the glass fibre reinforced composites is investigated and the results indicate that introduction of the alumina nanoparticles enhances the ILSS. In particular, the addition of 0.8 wt% alumina nanoparticles leads to maximum enhancement in the ILSS; however, there is a decrease in the value with further addition. The dispersion of alumina nanoparticles and the fracture surfaces of the fibre reinforced composites are examined by the scanning electron microscope. The graphs are employed to explain the results.
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