Tensile, impact, and mode-I behaviour of glass fiber-reinforced polymer composite modified by graphene nanoplatelets
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(2020) 20:94
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Tensile, impact, and mode‑I behaviour of glass fiber‑reinforced polymer composite modified by graphene nanoplatelets G. V. Vigneshwaran1 · Balasivanandha Prabu Shanmugavel1 · R. Paskaramoorthy2 · Sivasankaran Harish3 Received: 5 May 2020 / Revised: 6 July 2020 / Accepted: 28 July 2020 © Wroclaw University of Science and Technology 2020
Abstract This paper reports the tensile, impact, and mode-I behaviour of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites modified by incorporating graphene nanoplatelets (GnPs) on the fiber surface and in the epoxy matrix. The composites were fabricated through a hand lay-up technique followed by hot compression moulding. The homogeneous dispersion of GnPs in the matrix was achieved by mechanical mixing followed by ultra-sonication. The glass fibers were coated with varying quantities of GnPs (GnPs in epoxy) by the dip-coating technique. The composites containing 1 wt% GnPs on both the fiber surface and the matrix (0.5 wt% deposited on the fiber and 0.5 wt% dispersed in epoxy) enhanced the impact resistance by 45% and tensile strength by 114% over the pristine composite. The mode-I fracture toughness of the composite containing 1 wt% GnPs on both the fiber surface and the matrix was increased by 55% with the crack parallel to the fiber direction and 64% in a crack perpendicular to the fiber direction over the pristine composite. The presence of GnPs at the fiber/matrix interface toughened the fiber surface by preventing the matrix from cracking. Keywords Glass fibers · Graphene · Fracture toughness · Impact behaviour · Interface/interphase · Mechanical testing · Compression moulding
1 Introduction Glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites are considered for various applications in aerospace, automobile, aircraft, and marine industries due to their low-cost and ease of manufacture. The potential weight saving in electric cars can be achieved by replacing heavyweight structures, for example, car body structure and battery panel with lowweight structural materials. Liu et al. [1] developed a carbon fabric composite for the body structure of an electric vehicle, which helped to reduce the weight and boost the mobility of the vehicle. The lightweight design of composite structures * G. V. Vigneshwaran [email protected] * Balasivanandha Prabu Shanmugavel [email protected] 1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Anna University, Guindy Campus, Chennai 600 025, India
2
MPR Technologies, Johannesburg, South Africa
3
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo‑ku, 113‑8656, Japan
with high stiffness at low cost is a challenging issue in GFRP composites. The fiber/matrix interface is a critical region in the composite. Sathishkumar et al. [2] reported that the effective load transfer from the matrix to the fiber depends highly on the nature of bonding at the interface. Karger-Kocsis et al. [3] claimed that the mechanical properties of composites could be improved by
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