Term of Award

Fall 2021

Degree Name

Master of Science, Mechanical Engineering

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Committee Chair

Ermias Koricho

Committee Member 1

Shainaz Landge

Committee Member 2

Hossein Taheri

Abstract

The mechanical behavior of the nanomodified hybrid epoxy matrix was investigated in glass fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP). In this study, five nanocomposites enriched with as received halloysite, nanomer I.28E, HNT-APTES, and the hybrid combinations of the two HNTs with the nanomer I.28E were successfully fabricated. To evaluate the effects and morphological characteristics of the individual fillers and the hybrid configurations on the epoxy resin matrix, TGA, DSC, and DMA were analyzed. To understand the effect of the five configurations on the neat GFRP laminate, mode I interlaminar fracture toughness, tensile, and vibration properties were investigated. Electron microscopy testing techniques were used to support the results and conclusions. The addition of the filler material showed significant improvement in the GFRP materials’ properties, with the hybrid configuration showing exceptional results. Overall, the work demonstrated the ability to tailor GFRP composite properties using hybrid modified fillers. The data suggest that toughening epoxy with nanomodified filler materials is instrumental to various applications by improving and maintaining the overall integrity of structures, such as in the automotive and aerospace industries.

OCLC Number

1303006010

Research Data and Supplementary Material

Yes

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