Mechanical performance of hybrid carbon/fiberglass composite laminates reinforced with nanoclay

The objective of this study was to produce the hybrid carbon/fiberglass composite laminates, to characterize their mechanical properties under room temperature and to evaluate the effect of nanoclay addition into epoxy matrix on the mechanical properties of the hybrid composites. During fabrication of fiber reinforced polymer composites, the organo modified nanoclay (0%, 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1.25% of nanoclay reinforcement by weight) was mixed with epoxy system using an ultrasonic mixer. The produced matrix was then applied onto fibers by using hand layup method. Mechanical tests were performed to investigate the effect of nanoclay content on tensile and flexural properties of the fabricated hybrid carbon/fiberglass composites. The tensile and three point bending tests were performed according to ASTM D3039 and ASTM D7264, respectively, to measure the highest tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and bending modulus of the hybrid laminates. Experimental results show that the tensile and flexural performance of hybrid carbon/fiberglass composites was changed with the nanoclay content. © 2018 Polish Academy of Sciences Institute of Physics. All rights reserved.