Volume 19, Issue 6, 2010

LETTER:IMPROVED COMPRESSIVE PROPERTIES OF A UNIDIRECTIONAL CFRP LAMINATE USING NANOSILICA PARTICLES

A. Jumahat1,2, C. Soutis1,*, F. R. Jones3 and A. Hodzic1

1Aerospace Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK
2Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University Technology MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
3Department of Engineering Materials, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed
E-mail: c.soutis@sheffield.ac.uk

Received 28 September 2010; accepted 17 November 2010

ABSTRACT
The effect of nanosilica particles on the compressive properties of a unidirectional (UD) HTS40/828 carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite was studied. A series of nanomodified CFRP composite was fabricated using 3.6 - 19.7 vol.% nanosilica-modified epoxy resin. Static uniaxial compression tests were conducted on [0]8 laminate specimens of 12 mm gauge length to evaluate the compressive properties. It was found that the compressive modulus and strength of nanomodified UD system were improved with increasing nanosilica content without any significant reduction in failure strain. The presence of spherical silica nanoparticles stiffened the epoxy matrix and offered a better lateral support to the carbon fibre. Therefore, the compressive properties were improved significantly in comparison with the unmodified CFRP system. These results suggested
that the interaction between the nanomodified epoxy and the carbon fibre is very good therefore the load is successfully transferred via the interface to give higher resistance against deformation when it was loaded in compression.

Keywords: CFRP; Nanosilica; Nanocomposites; Epoxy matrix; Compressive properties