Enhancing mechanical properties of bolted carbon/epoxy nanocomposites with carbon nanotube, nanoclay, and hybrid loading

The effects of adding nanoclay (NC), carbon nanotube (CNT), and a hybrid of both on bending, tensile and bearing strengths of nanocomposite plates were investigated in this study. Sonication method was used to ensure dispersion of the nanoparticles in epoxy homogeneously. The nanocomposite plates were produced by a vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) process. Mechanical properties were investigated by applying bending and tensile testing as well as tensile test with bolted joints on the nanocomposite plates. According to the bearing strength, 5.2%, 3.9%, and 0.8% improvements were obtained in NC, CNT and hybrid (NC + CNT) loaded specimens respectively while much more improvement range from 47.7% to 57.1% was obtained in tensile strength. In addition, the impact of nanoparticle loading on the porosity was determined by applying the burning test and its effect on the mechanical properties was discussed.