An Insight into Nylon 6,6 Nanofibers Interleaved E-glass Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites

• Published in: Journal of the Institution of Engineers (India) Series C 2023-02, Vol.104 (1), p.15-44
• Main Authors: Chavan, Sachin, Kanu, Nand Jee, Shendokar, Sachin, Narkhede, Balkrishna, Sinha, Mukesh Kumar, Gupta, Eva, Singh, Gyanendra Kumar, Vates, Umesh Kumar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerospace Technology and Astronautics; Bend strength; Cantilever beams; Design of experiments; E glass; Electric power supplies; Electrospinning; Engineering; Fiber composites; Fiber reinforced polymers; Finite element method; Fracture toughness; Glass fiber reinforced plastics; Glass-epoxy composites; Grounded collectors; Hand lay-up; Industrial and Production Engineering; Interfacial shear strength; Laminates; Mechanical Engineering; Nanocomposites; Nanofibers; Nylon 66; Original Contribution; Resin transfer molding; Shear strength; Tensile strength
• ISSN: 2250-0545; 2250-0553
• DOI: 10.1007/s40032-022-00882-0

The research work aims to investigate high-performance nylon 6,6 nanofiber interleaved E-glass fiber reinforced epoxy laminates (prepared using the electrospinning method) which exhibit unique design features in terms of improved mechanical strength. The influences of electrospinning control variables such as the nozzle of spinneret to grounded collector distance, rate of flow, high-voltage power supply, and concentration of polymeric solution to create high-quality nanofibers of specific length and diameter in nanometers are examined. The objectives of the current investigations are to develop delamination-resistant nylon 6,6 nanofibers interleaved E-glass fiber reinforced epoxy structural nanocomposites. The research efforts are thus focused to use electrospinning, vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM), and glass molding processes to fabricate nanocomposites with electrospun nylon 6,6 nanofibers. The specimens are described and evaluated in accordance with ASTM standards for tensile strength (D 638), flexural or bending strength (D 790-2003) of two-phase composites, and the hand molding or hand layup method are compared to the VARTM process. Two-phase nanocomposites containing nylon 6,6 nanofibers into the polymer matrix (Epolam 5015) are fabricated by glass molding process. The advanced composites are manufactured with primary reinforcement of eight-shaft satin weave pattern glass fiber 7781, with Epolam 5015 matrix and secondary reinforcement of nylon 6, 6 nanofibers with different diameters, i.e., 81, 455, and 1200 nm (multiscale). To achieve the different diameter fibers, statistical tools of design of experiment (DOE), full factorial and Taguchi are employed. Further they are characterized with (1) short beam shear strength (SBS) using ASTM 2344 standard for interlaminar shear strength and (2) double cantilever beam (DCB) using ASTM 5288 standard for Mode I fracture toughness for of three-phase nanocomposites. For better understanding the behavior of nanocomposites, the shear strength between laminate planes, or interlaminar shear strength (ILSS), of nylon 6,6 nanofiber interleaved composites is modeled using the finite element technique.