Mode I and Mode II interlaminar fracture toughness of composite laminates interleaved with electrospun nanofibre veils

Abstract

a b s t r a c tIn this study, the effects of interleaved nanofibre veils on the Mode I and Mode II interlaminar fracture toughness (ILFT) of autoclave cured unidirectional carbon/epoxy composite laminates were investigated. Various electrospun nanofibre veils consisting of a range of different polymer types, fibre diameters and veil architectures were placed in the laminate mid-planes, which were subsequently subjected to double cantilever beam and end-notch flexure tests. It was found that the polymer type and veil areal weight were the most important factors contributing to laminate performance. A 4.5 g/m 2 PA66 veil provided the best all-round performance with fracture toughness improvements of 156% and 69% for Mode I and Mode II, respectively.

Electrospun nanofibers as reinforcement for composite laminates materials – A review

“…Resin reinforcement is the most desirable reinforce mechanism, for it actively reduces the risk of crack initiation, and developing an optimum, repeatable and reliable interleaving process that realise a good bonding between the nanofibers and the resin is crucial for a positive effect of the reinforcement. Similar conclusions are drawn in [23], where authors identify in the nanofibers-resin compatibility one of the main reason of the better properties they found for nanomodified samples;…”

“…• in [20,21,23,44] it is shown that mechanical properties of nanomodified samples drop when the nanolayer reaches a certain thickness. It is observed that there is a threshold value on the amount of nanoreinforce after which the compliance of a randomly aligned polymeric nanofibrous mat overcomes the strengthening effect of the same;…”

“…• resin reinforcement [23,60,[87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94], detected by several authors, using a different type of polymers. In [94] it is demonstrated that using an hybrid electrospinning-electrospraying method (electrospraying uses polymers with much shorter chains which end deposited as particles rather than fibers), a resin containing 0.13% weight content of fiber was 700% stronger, 250% stiffer, and more ductile than the non-modified one.…”

Multiscale Polymer Composites: A Review of the Interlaminar Fracture Toughness Improvement

“…The nanocomposites thin film can also be manufactured using electrospinning [194][195][196][197] and electrospun [198][199][200] processes. These methods have gained popularity and are found to be an effective technique to also produce the electrospinning/electrospun nano-interlayers [201][202][203][204][205] which toughen the composite laminate. Klein et al [206] reported the ILFT of specimens (satin woven CFRPs) with carbon nanotube/epoxy films.…”

“…to also produce the electrospinning/electrospun nano-interlayers [201][202][203][204][205] which toughen the composite laminate. Klein et al [206] reported the ILFT of specimens (satin woven CFRPs) with carbon nanotube/epoxy films.…”