Damping Behavior of Alumina Epoxy Nano-Composites

Polymer nano composites, consisting of a polymer matrix with nanoparticle filler, have been predicted to be one of the most beneficial applications of nanotechnology. Addition of nano particulates to a polymer matrix enhances its performance by capitalizing on the nature and properties of the nano-scale fillers. The damping behavior of composites with nano structured phases is significantly different from that of micro structured materials. Viscoelastic homopolymer exhibit a high material damping response over a relatively narrow range of temperature and frequencies. In many practical situations, a polymeric structure is required to possess better strength and stiffness properties together with a reasonable damping behavior. Viscoelastic polymers show higher loss factor beyond the glassy region which comes with a significant drop in the specific modulus. Addition of nano alumina particles to epoxy leads to improved strength and stiffness properties with an increase in glass transition temperature while retaining its damping capability. Experimental investigations are carried out on composite beam specimen fabricated with different compositions of alumina nano particles in epoxy to evaluate loss factor, tan δ. Impact damping method is used for time response analysis. A single point Laser is used to record the transverse displacement of a point on the composite beam specimen. The experimental results are compared with theoretical estimation of loss factor using Voigt estimation. The effect of inter phase is included in theoretical estimation of loss factor. The result reveals that the study of interface properties is very important in deriving the overall loss factor of the composite since interface occupies a significant volume fraction in the composite. © 2016, The Institution of Engineers (India).