Abstract. This study investigates the effects of nano carboxylic acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (CNBR-NP) and nano acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR-NP) on the interlaminar shear strength and fracture toughness of carbon fibre reinforced polymer composites (CFRP) with dicyandiamide-cured epoxy matrix. The results show that nano-size dispersion of rubber significantly improved the Mode I delamination fracture toughness (G IC ) of the CFRP by 250% and its Mode II delamination fracture toughness (G IIC ) by 80% with the addition of 20 phr of CNBR-NP. For the NBR-NP system, the G IC and G IIC delamination fracture toughness of the CFRP were increased by 200 and 80% respectively with the addition of 20 phr (parts per hundred rubber) of nano rubber to the matrix. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the fracture surface revealed that the toughening was mainly achieved by debonding of the nano rubber, crack path deflection and fibre bridging.
This article investigates the effects of nano carboxylic acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (CNBR-NP) and nano acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR-NP) on the rheological properties and cure characteristics of epoxy. Dynamic mechanical behavior of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites (CFRP) with the nanorubber-modified matrices was also studied. Rheological study showed that NBR-NP blends attained lower viscosity in comparison to CNBR-NP blends and both systems exhibited shear-thinning behavior. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images revealed that CNBR-NP could be dispersed evenly within the epoxy matrix using industrial mixing process whereas partial agglomeration was observed in NBR-NP blends. The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) data showed that the addition of nanorubber has negligible effect on the glass transition temperature of the epoxy. The difference in the dispersion ability of these two nanorubbers in epoxy is related to the difference in van der Waals forces between single nanoparticles, the chemical formula and the polarity of the systems.
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