Experimental investigation of fatigue and mechanical properties of unidirectional composite plates filled nanoparticles

Abstract

In this study, epoxy-based composite materials reinforced with unidirectional glass fiber (GFRP) fabric were manufactured by adding nanosized multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and nanoclay to epoxy resin during production process. The effects of those additives on fatigue strength of the composite materials were investigated experimentally. In this context, both nanoparticles by adding 0.5 wt% of epoxy resin were mixed with ultrasonic homogenization mixer. To examine the contribution of nanoparticles, composite plates were produced as MWCNT and nanoclay filled and unfilled. Mechanical properties and fatigue behavior (S-N diagram) were obtained and the results were compared with each other. From the results obtained, fatigue and tensile strength of composite specimens with MWCNT filled were found higher than unfilled specimens.