Effect of nanoparticle dispersion on mechanical behavior of polymer matrix and their fiber reinforced composites
Abstract
Fiber reinforced composites are widely used to achieve weight savings in different construction. However, their used are restricted as their matrix-dominant properties are much weaker than their fiber-dominated properties. The recent advent of nanoparticles has attracted much attention in improving the matrix properties by using various nanoparticles as reinforcements. Due to the lack of well-developed and consistent processing method, experimental results on nanocomposites show a broad spectrum of anomalies in their properties. Dispersion of nanoparticles in the polymeric precursor is often blamed for these inconsistencies in their properties which becomes even worse with high particle loading. In this research, a processing technique has been developed to fabricate very well-dispersed nanocomposite even with high particle loading in order to fully utilize the advantages of nanoparticle reinforcement. An attempt has also been made to modify the conventional sonication method to improve the dispersion by combining the sol-gel and sonication methods to fabricate hybrid nanocomposites. Transmission electronic microscopy has been employed to investigate dispersion quality of nanoparticles. Finally, mechanical characterization has been performed to evaluate the effect of different state of particle dispersion. Once the effect of dispersion is identified, a micromechanical model has been proposed to estimate the strength of particle reinforced composites based on particle/matrix interfacial crack growth. Finite element analyses were performed to validate the experimental results for microparticle reinforced composites. Using the model, effect of particle size has also been validated with experimental results. The model is then further extended to reveal the failure modes in nanocomposite with the support of some experimental evidences. Finally, an effort has been made to evaluate the potential application of the nanoparticle modified resin by fabricating unidirectional E-glass fiber composites. Performance characterization tests have been conducted on these fiber reinforced modified polymeric composites, such as compression, tension, fracture and impact tests to evaluate their potentiality in the real field applications.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Sun, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Aerospace engineering|Mechanical engineering|Materials science
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