Abstract
The crosslinked polymers used in fibre composites are very brittle, and require toughening for structural applications. Research over many years has increased the fracture energy, but the fatigue resistance of these toughened polymers is very poor, limiting the optimisation of structures. This work reports the first successful use of hybrid toughening to increase both the quasi-static interlaminar fracture energy, GIC, and the fatigue threshold strain-energy release-rate, Gth. Amine-cured epoxy glass-fibre composites were toughened using carboxyl-terminated butadiene-acrylonitrile (CTBN) which forms micron-sized rubber particles and 20 nm-diameter silica nanoparticles. The toughening mechanisms were identified as cavitation of rubber particles and debonding for the silica nanoparticles, followed by plastic void growth. The CTBN greatly increases GIC, and the nanoparticles increase Gth. Combining both particles as a hybrid has a synergistic effect on the fatigue resistance. This demonstrates the effectiveness of hybrid toughening, enabling the design of optimised composites by combining micro- and nanoparticles.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 239-256 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Journal | Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing |
Volume | 109 |
Early online date | 3 Mar 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2018 |
Keywords
- A: Glass fibres
- A: Nanoparticles
- B: Fatigue
- B: Fracture
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ceramics and Composites
- Mechanics of Materials
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Large chamber variable pressure scanning electron microscope (SEM)
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