Investigation of Dynamic-Mechanical-Thermal Analysis of Innovative Hybrid Carbon/Glass Fibers Reinforced by GNPs and Al2O3 for Marine Structures

Abstract

Marine structural applications face numerous challenges related to environmental load, corrosion, and fatigue under varying time and temperature conditions. One of the major challenges faced by marine structural applications is dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). In this study, innovative hybrid carbon/glass fibers (CGF) reinforced with different contents (1.5 wt. % and 3 wt. %) of dual nano-powders, including graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and aluminium oxide (Al2O3), were developed as reinforcements inside the epoxy matrix. The nanocomposites were fabricated using a hand lay-up technique, resulting in a nanocomposite sheet with dimensions of 300 mm length, 200 mm width, and 2.3 mm thickness. DMTA test specimens were prepared with dimensions of 50 mm length, 10 mm width, and 2.3 mm thickness. To ensure accuracy, three replicates were conducted for each condition, and the average values were calculated for analysis. Before DMTA, the prepared nanocomposites were analyzed using optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX) to compare the influence of incorporating dual nano-powders. DMTA was carried out at different temperature values (ranging from 10 °C to 105 °C) and times (ranging from 5 to 575 min) at 1 Hz frequency with a heating rate of 4 °C/min and a nitrogen flow rate of 20 ml/min. The main objective of this study was to investigate the influence of incorporating dual nano-powders such as GNPs and Al2O3 on various dynamic mechanical properties including storage modulus, loss modulus, damping factor (DF), and glass transition temperature (Tg) of the hybrid carbon/glass fiber-reinforced epoxy composites. The fabricated hybrid CGF composite with 1.5% wt. GA nanoparticles exhibited higher values for the DF of 0.68 and the Tg of 73.4 °C. However, increasing the nanoparticle content to 3% wt. GA led to a deterioration in the DF (0.54) and a reduction in Tg (27.8 °C) due to decreased bonding between the carbon fibers (CF) and glass fibers (GF) caused by the higher nanoparticle concentration. The complex modulus (E*) values demonstrated expected trends with temperature and time for the CGF-1.5% wt. GA composite, indicating acceptable behaviour. In contrast, the CGF-3% wt. GA composite exhibited lower E* values, indicating a decrease in stiffness and mechanical properties compared to the CGF-1.5% wt. GA composite. Microstructural observations after DMTA revealed a uniform scattering of nanoparticles in the CGF-1.5% wt. GA sample, while the CGF-3% wt. GA sample demonstrated improved scattering of Al2O3 nanoparticles on the surface. The microstructural analysis further indicated a brittle nature with high resistance to crack initiation and propagation in the CGF-1.5% wt. GA composite.