Studies on the mechanical properties of composites reinforced with nanoparticles

In this article, the influence of nanoclay Closite 30B on the tensile, the flexural and the punch properties of 2D woven Glass/Epoxy laminate composite have been investigated experimentally. The glass/epoxy/nanoclay laminate have 12 layers and 50% fiber volume fraction is manufactured by VRTM method. Fibers have a plain‐weave configuration with density of 200 g/m², while the nano‐epoxy resin system is made of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (Epon828) resin with jeffamine D400 as the curing agent and an organically modified modified montmorillonite in a platelet form, namely Closite 30B. The nanoclay is dispersed into the epoxy system in a 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7% ratio in weight with respect to the nano‐matrix. The results have shown that the maximum improvement in the tensile strength, the failure strain, and toughness are 13, 7, and 27%, respectively, by 7% nanoclay and in the modulus is 9% by 3% nanoclay. The results of three bending flexural test indicate that the maximum improvement in the flexural strength and flexural modulus are 11 by 3% nanoclay and 48 by 5% nanoclay, respectively. Moreover, the result of punch tests have shown that the maximum improvement in energy absorbed is close to 46 by 5% nanoclay for crosshead speed of 1mm/min and close to 23 by 3% nanoclay for crosshead speed of 100 mm/min. POLYM. COMPOS., 38:205–212, 2017. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers