An Experimental and Analytical Investigation of Novel Nanocomposite Reinforced with Nanoclay with Enhanced Properties for Low Velocity Impact Test

The application of nanoparticles in order to enhance the composites properties has been recently attracted many researchers' attentions. To increase the mechanical and physical properties of the composites, the nanoparticles have no significant effect on the weight and nanostructure of composites. One of the well-known nanoparticles is the Nanoclay (NC) that have been widely used in industries due to its unique geometric shape and some specific chemical properties. In this research, the effect of NC on the mechanical behavior of epoxy hybrid/glass fibers composite has been investigated. Samples containing (1, 2, 3, 5 and 7) wt% of NC with constant amount of epoxy hybrid/glass fibers composite were produced. Samples with 3 wt% NC has shown proper impact, tensile properties. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique were used to analysis the morphology and phase characterization of the samples. The sample with 3 wt% NC shows elastic modulus, ultimate tensile strength and ultimate flexural strength as 2.5 GPa, 20 MPa and 50 MPa, respectively. Ballistic impact test on the samples demonstrated that initially as the NC increased, the mechanical properties also increased. The results of tensile, bending and impact tests on hybrid samples showed improvement in these properties compared to the primary sample without nanoparticles incorporated. On the other hand, the energy absorbed by the target was increased, due to the sensitivity of the glass fiber to the strain rate. The novel hybrid epoxy/glass fibers composite reinforced with 3 wt% NC present proper mechanical properties compared to another specimen.