Assessment of mechanical, thermal and morphological behavior of nano-Al2O3 embedded glass fiber/epoxy composites at in-situ elevated temperatures

• Published in: Composites. Part B, Engineering Engineering, 2019-06, Vol.166, p.688-700
• Main Authors: Mahato, Kishore Kumar, Dutta, Krishna, Chandra Ray, Bankim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Fibrous reinforced polymeric (FRP) composites; Interface/interphase; Mechanical properties; Nano-Al2O3; Weibull design parameter
• ISSN: 1359-8368; 1879-1069
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2019.03.009

Owing to the outstanding properties of nano-Al2O3 particles have incited material researchers to have a promising invasion in the field of fibrous polymeric composites. There is an uncertainty of nano-Al2O3/polymer interfacial stability at high temperature engineering applications. Current investigations explicate the effects of nano-Al2O3 content on the mechanical behavior of glass/epoxy (GE) composites at various in-situ elevated temperatures. The flexural properties and viscoelastic behavior of the composites have been investigated and evaluated. The Weibull design parameters were analysed as a function of nano-Al2O3 content and different test temperatures. Scanning electron microscopy analyses were carried out to understand various interfacial strengthening mechanism and micro-mechanism failures. These results indicated that incorporation of 0.1 wt% of nano-Al2O3 in GE composites at room temperature could be considered an optimal value in flexural strength enhancement. The fracture surfaces demonstrated a combination of fiber pullout, interfacial debonding, matrix drainage and fiber imprints failure morphologies. Weibull analyses responded a reasonable agreement with the experimental results.