@inproceedings{04946944025d465182fcb4032803a451,
title = "Fracture toughness and impact damage resistance of nanoreinforced Carbon/Epoxy composites",
abstract = "In this study, the objective was to develop, manufacture, and test hybrid nano/microcomposites with a nanoparticle reinforced matrix and demonstrate improvements to damage tolerance via Mode-II fracture toughness and impact damage absorption. The material employed was a woven carbon fiber/epoxy composite, with multi-wall carbon nanotubes as a nano-scale reinforcement to the matrix. A direct-mixing process, aided by a block copolymer dispersant and sonication, was employed to produce the nanoparticle-filled epoxy matrix. Fracture toughness was tested by several different Mode- II and mixed Mode-I/Mode-II specimens to determine the toughness improvement. Testing and material difficulties were overcome by this approach, showing a Mode-II toughness improvement of approx. 35% in the hybrid material. Impact tests were performed in a falling-weight drop tower at different energies to introduce interlaminar damage in samples of both materials. Impact damaged specimens were imaged by ultrasonic c-scans to assess the area of the damage zone at each ply interface. Post-mortem optical microscopy confirmed the interlaminar nature of the impact damage. These tests showed a consistently smaller absorbed energy and smaller total damage area for hybrid composite over reference material, translating to a nominally higher {\textquoteleft}effective impact toughness{\textquoteright} in the hybrid composite (approx 42%) regardless of specific impact energy.",
keywords = "Fracture toughness, Hybrid nano/microcomposites, Impact behavior, Nanocomposites, Test methods",
author = "Fenner, {Joel S.} and Daniel, {Isaac M.}",
note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR). We are grateful to Dr. Y. D. S. Rajapakse of ONR for his encouragement and cooperation. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Society for Experimental Mechanics, Inc. 2016.; 2015 SEM Annual Conference and Exposition on Experimental and Applied Mechanics ; Conference date: 08-06-2015 Through 11-06-2015",
year = "2016",
doi = "10.1007/978-3-319-21611-9_27",
language = "English (US)",
series = "Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series",
publisher = "Springer Science and Business Media, LLC",
number = "2016",
pages = "213--224",
editor = "Beese, {Allison M.} and Zehnder, {Alan T.} and Shuman Xia",
booktitle = "Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series",
edition = "2016",
}