Investigating the effect of MXene reinforcement on the mechanical and vibrational behaviour of honeycomb core sandwich composite structures

Honeycomb core sandwich composite panels are now being employed in various industries and possess huge potential owing to the fact that they provide almost similar properties as that of traditional metallic materials with substantial reduction in weight and are extremely corrosion resistant. MXene nanosheets have caught attention of the scientific community owing their extraordinary physical, chemical and mechanical properties. In the present work, the effect MXene reinforcement on the bending and vibrational behaviour of honeycomb cored sandwich composite structures has been investigated using experimentation and finite element (FE) modeling. The honeycomb cored sandwich plates were fabricated and samples were tested via three-point bending and vibration test under various testing conditions. The SEM images revealed that the MXene nanosheets were well dispersed within the epoxy matrix when their mixture was prepared and the homogenous dispersion was also maintained in the fabricated honeycomb core. Also, the MXene and glass fibres were found to be well bonded with the matrix. As far as bending behaviour is concerned, the sandwich structure containing MXene reinforced honeycomb core displayed superior load bearing capacity and exhibited higher values of core shear strength and face sheet bending strength at all testing temperatures. Furthermore, the reinforcement of MXene resulted in an increase in the natural frequency for all the considered modes irrespective of the end conditions. For instance, the natural frequency of the honeycomb core sandwich composite plate at first mode increased by 5.5 % and 10.2 % under CFFF and CFCF boundary conditions, respectively, upon addition of MXene.