Experimental study on thermal and mechanical properties of clay modified carbon fiber reinforced epoxy

In the present investigation, DMA, TGA, and flexural tests were performed on unfilled, 1wt. %, 2wt. %, and 3wt. % clay filled SC-15 epoxy to identify the loading effect on thermal and mechanical properties of the matrix. Thermal and mechanical test results indicated that 2.0 wt% clay/epoxy systems showed the highest improvement in the storage modulus and strength as compared to the neat systems. After that, the nanophased matrix with 2 wt.% clay was then utilized in a Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM) set up with satin weave carbon preforms to fabricate laminated composites. The resulting composites have been evaluated by TGA, DNA and flexural test, and 5 °C increasing in glass transition temperature, 6°C increasing in decomposition temperature and 13.5% improvement in strength was observed in nanocomposite.

Experimental study on thermal and mechanical properties of clay modified carbon fiber reinforced epoxy Conference Paper