Improvement in mechanical performance due to hybridization of carbon fiber/epoxy composite with carbon black

Many researchers are doing effort to investigate the effect of different particulates or fillers incorporated in the composite materials. In this investigation, the effect of the incorporation of different amounts of carbon black particulates on the mechanical performance of carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy composites has been studied. The carbon fiber-reinforced carbon black/epoxy hybrids were prepared with keeping constant weight fraction of carbon fiber and varying weight fraction of carbon black (0, 5, 10, and 15 wt%), using hand lay-up technique. After cure, the fabricated composite materials were cut and dimensioned into specimens as per the ASTM standards of testing and submitted to tensile, flexural, and impact tests. The microstructural characteristics and fracture surfaces of the composite were examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Increments of 65.78, 32.07, and 36.11% have been noticed in the tensile strength, flexural strength, and impact strength respectively for the hybrid composite (10 wt% carbon black) with respect to the conventional carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy composite. The experimental result has been validated with the numerical technique. This study represents that carbon black/epoxy composites reinforced with carbon fiber show higher mechanical performance than the conventional carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy matrix composites.