PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF MULTIWALLED CARBON NANOTUBES (MWCNT) INCORPORATED WITH GLASS FIBRE REINFORCED COMPOSITES

This research work enumerates the effect of MWCNT when added to glass fiber reinforced polymer composite on the performance characteristics. Bidirectional woven glass fiber was used as the reinforcement and Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer laminates were prepared using an epoxy resin as nano composite matrix reinforced with functionalized multi walled carbon nano tubes. Five different specimens were fabricated on the basis of the composition of multi walled carbon nano tubes dispersed in relevant matrix as 2%, 4%, 6%, 8% & 10% by weight. Various tests namely tensile, impact and flexural test were carried out and the ability of MWCNT to spread across entire glass fiber was noted. It resulted in enhancement of mechanical properties without much variation. Increase in weight % of MWCNT resulted in better flexural and tensile strength to the extent of giving encouraging results but there was a deterioration of these properties following the addition of a certain quantity of MWCNT. The flexural and tensile properties reached maximum values when 4% multi walled carbon nanotube was added. There was a gradual decrease in impact strength of the composites with increasing carbon nanotube content.