EFFECT OF FIBER ORIENTATION ON THE MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF GLASS FIBER/EPOXY HYBRID NANOCOMPOSITES CONTAINING MULTI WALLED CARBON NANOTUBES AND GRAPHENE

This paper deals with the influence of the lay-up configuration of glass fiber reinforced epoxy matrix hybrid nanocomposites which are developed containing multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene (GPN) to investigate merged effect of nanoreinforcements on the mechanical performance of nanocomposites. The accompanying laminates were produced by mechanical ultrasonicator with compression molding for this study:[0°]s ,[90°]s ,[0°/90°]s and [45°/45°]s oriented. Both the nanofillers were functionalized before incorporating into epoxy matrix to promote interfacial interactions. The concentrations of both MWCNTs and GPN filled in the reinforced glass epoxy matrix nanocomposites were increased systematically, i.e. 0.1wt.%, 0.2wt.% and 0.3wt.% while composites containing individual nano reinforcements were additionally manufactured for comparison. The developed nanocomposites were characterized microstructurally by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and mechanically by tensile, flexural, and compressive tests. Homogeneous dispersion of MWCNTs and GPN was observed under SEM, which resulted in the revampment of mechanical properties of nanocomposites. The [0°]s glass/epoxy hybrid nanocomposites containing 0.2wt.% MWCNTs and 0.2wt.% GPN demonstrated 28.4% enhancement in tensile strength and modulus revamped to 38.4%, respectively. Flexural strength and modulus likewise demonstrated a rise of 84% and 64%, respectively. Compressive strength and modulus likewise demonstrated a rise of 480% and 74%, respectively. Strikingly, fracture strain likewise enhanced in both the tensile, flexural and Compressive testing. The impact resistance enhanced to 237% demonstrating a significant revampment in the toughness of hybrid nanocomposites.