Studies of Mechanical Properties of Multiwall Nanotube Based Polymer Composites

The two phase polymer composites have been extensively used in various structural applications; however, there is need to further enhance the strength and stiffness of these polymer composites. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be effectively used as secondary reinforcement material in polymer based composites due to their superlative mechanical properties. In this paper, effects of multiwall nanotubes (MWNTs) reinforcement on epoxy-carbon polymer composites are investigated using experiments. MWNTs synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique and amino-functionalization are achieved through acid-thionyl chloride route. Diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) epoxy resin with diethyl toluene diamine (DETDA) hardener has been used as matrix. T-300 carbon fabric is used as the primary reinforcement. Three types of test specimen of epoxy-carbon composite are prepared with MWNT reinforcement as 0%, 1%, and 2% MWNT (by weight). The resultant three phase nanocomposites are subjected to tensile test. It has been found that both tensile strength and strain at failure are substantially enhanced with the small addition of MWNT. The analytical results obtained from rule of mixture theory (ROM) shows good agreement with the experimental results. The proposed three phase polymer nanocomposites can find applications in composite structures, ballistic missiles, unmanned arial vehicles, helicopters, and aircrafts. Copyright © 2014 by ASME.