Effects of Nanoparticles on the Shear Properties of Polymer Composites

Abstract

The effect of nanoparticles on the in-plane and interlaminar shear properties of composites is investigated. Two different batches of materials are made by hot pressing of woven carbon fiber prepregs without and with nanoparticles respectively. For batches of the specimen with nanoparticles added, and Silica nanopowders are used as nanoparticles. The nanoparticles are dispersed between the prepregs laminas’ and the stack is set under hot press at 350oF and 3.5 Tons, resulting a fiver layers laminated composite where the matrix between the lamina are reinforced with nanoparticles. By using this technique, it was able to fabricate composites that are reinforced with uniformly distributed nanoparticles between the laminas. The other batch is fabricated following similar procedure except the nanoparticles are absent. Both batches are tested under uniaxial tension and shear tests, and using 3D digital image correlation and load cell data the in-plane and interlaminar shear properties are characterized. The effects of nanoparticles on the elastic properties are investigated. It is found that the presence of nanoparticles improved the in-plane shear strength of the composites by about 15 % and shear modulus by 16%.