Efficient Improvement in Fracture Toughness of Laminated Composite by Interleaving Functionalized Nanofibers

Functionalized polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers were used in the present investigation to enhance the fracture behavior of carbon epoxy composite in order to prevent delamination if any crack propagates in the resin rich area. The main intent of this investigation was to analyze the efficiency of PAN nanofiber as a reinforcing agent for the carbon fiber-based epoxy structural composite. The composites were fabricated with stacked unidirectional carbon fibers and the PAN powder was functionalized with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and then used as reinforcement. The fabricated composites’ fracture behavior was analyzed through a double cantilever beam test and the energy release rate of the composites was investigated. The neat PAN and functionalized PAN-reinforced samples had an 18% and a 50% increase in fracture energy, respectively, compared to the control composite. In addition, the samples reinforced with functionalized PAN nanofibers had 27% higher interlaminar strength compared to neat PAN-reinforced composite, implying more efficient stress transformation as well as stress distribution from the matrix phase (resin-rich area) to the reinforcement phase (carbon/phase) of the composites. The enhancement of fracture toughness provides an opportunity to alleviate the prevalent issues in laminated composites for structural operations and facilitate their adoption in industries for critical applications.

Interlaminar fracture toughness properties of hybrid glass fiber-reinforced composite interlayered with carbon nanotube using electrospray deposition

The electrospray deposition (ESD) method was used to deposit carbon nanotubes (CNTs) onto the surface of glass fiber (GF). The morphology of the hybrid CNTs-GF was analyzed using a field emission scanning electron microscope, and the images indicated that the CNTs were uniformly and homogenously deposited onto the GF’s surface. Laminated composite based on GF and hybrid CNTs-GF were then fabricated via vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding. The mode I interlaminar fracture toughness was measured using the double cantilever beam test method. The hybrid CNTs-GF showed a 34% increase in fracture toughness relative to the control sample. The mechanism of interlaminar fracture toughness enhancement was elucidated via fractography, where fiber bridging, adhesive and cohesive failures, hackles, and coarse matrix surface were observed along the crack pathways.

Improvement of fracture toughness and thermo-mechanical properties of carbon fiber/epoxy composites using polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane

The influence of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes–polyvinylpyrrolidone on the interlaminar fracture toughness of carbon fiber-reinforced composites (CFRPs) is investigated in this study. Baseline composite material is fabricated using novolac epoxy-infused carbon fiber prepreg. Glycidyl isobutyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (GI) is introduced in the CFRP at loading of 1, 3, 5, and 10 wt.% with respect to polyvinylpyrrolidone used as a compatibilizer. Results of the double cantilever beam test indicate an increase of 70% in interlaminar fracture toughness for 5 wt.% GI-POSS loading compared to the baseline composite. Scanning electron microscopy shows polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes enhanced the adhesion between fiber and the resin that leads to the fiber pull-out. Dynamic mechanical analysis result captures the reduction in the storage modulus with addition of polyvinylpyrrolidone due to the plasticization effect. Nonetheless, the introduction of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes increases the storage modulus for the GI/PVP composite. Additionally, an increase in the glass transition temperature with the reinforcement of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes is observed.

An Elastic Interface Model for the Delamination of Bending-Extension Coupled Laminates

The paper addresses the problem of an interfacial crack in a multi-directional laminated beam with possible bending-extension coupling. A crack-tip element is considered as an assemblage of two sublaminates connected by an elastic-brittle interface of negligible thickness. Each sublaminate is modeled as an extensible, flexible, and shear-deformable laminated beam. The mathematical problem is reduced to a set of two differential equations in the interfacial stresses. Explicit expressions are derived for the internal forces, strain measures, and generalized displacements in the sublaminates. Then, the energy release rate and its Mode I and Mode II contributions are evaluated. As an example, the model is applied to the analysis of the double cantilever beam test with both symmetric and asymmetric laminated specimens.