Influence of nanoclay on interlaminar shear strength and fracture toughness of glass fiber reinforced nanocomposites

Abstract

Multilayer glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) laminates filled with nanoclay was manufactured with compression moulding machine. In the present work, five kinds of nanoclay (Cloisite 25A) loadings viz. 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10% on weight basis of epoxy resin were employed to modify the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS), critical energy release rate (GIc) and impact energy properties of GFRP laminates. Experimental results obtained from ILSS test on clay filled GFRP confirm that the superior strength was attained at low clay content of 155.10 MPa. Furthermore, the mode I interlaminar fracture toughness test conducted on DCB specimens revealed that the commanding improvement of GIc was obtained at 2 wt.% clay content level. On the other hand, both ILSS and fracture toughness was getting reduced at higher clay loadings. At last, the impact strength of the test samples was investigated by using Izod impact test apparatus and observed that the impact energy was increased by 44.39% for 2 wt.% and followed by 24.87% for 4 wt.% clay loadings.