Experimental evaluation and numerical Investigations of mechanical properties of etbn And mwcnts based cfrp hybrid nanocomposites

Abstract

newlineCarbon fiber-reinforced epoxy (C-epoxy) composites are excessively used in newlinehe area of aerospace, automotive, locomotive, defense, space and underwater newlineapplications because of their high strength to weight ratio and rigidity. Though newlineC-epoxy composites have high specific strength they are relatively brittle in nature newlinedue to high crosslink density with poor resistance to the initiation and growth of newlinecracks. Efforts are made for toughening of these brittle C-epoxy composites through newlinevarious methods and the most prominent method is the addition of phase separated newlinerubber particles to the matrix system. Liquid rubber materials such as butadiene newlineacrylonitrile co-polymers containing Carboxyl Terminated Butadiene Acrylonitrile newline(CTBN), Amine Terminated Butadiene Acrylonitrile (ATBN) and Epoxy Terminated newlineButadiene Acrylonitrile (ETBN) reactive end groups are generally added. The newlinemprovement of engineering properties with the use of CTBN and amine ATBN newlineparticles is well reported. ATBN is not compatible with aliphatic amines and the newlinedirect addition of CTBN to an epoxy system does not completely separate its phase newlineupon curing leading to the minimum improvement in toughness. For obtaining newlineoptimum toughness, butadiene can be modified with the epoxy end group to form newlineEpoxy Terminated Butadiene Acrylonitrile (ETBN). ETBN interfaces well with the newlinestructural grade epoxy resins due to its epoxy end groups thereby providing optimum newlineoughness. However, the improvement in toughness with the addition of rubber newline newline newline