Optimizing Weight Percentage of MWCNTs for Enhancing LVI Resistance of Quasi-Isotropic Symmetric Laminate of Carbon Woven Fabric/ Epoxy Embedded with MWCNTs

Abstract

This research work investigates the energy absorption, and damage tolerance behavior of three phased (carbon woven/epoxy/multiwall carbon nanotubes) polymer composites. Five doping weight fractions of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are considered as 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 wt.% of thermosetting epoxy resins. Low-velocity impact (LVI) tests are conducted on drop tower setup with three different velocities, 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5 m/s. Damage caused by a 10 kg, hemispherical headed cylindrical impactor is analyzed and compared. The experimental results showed an increase in the energy absorption up to 3 wt.% of the MWCNT doping. However, reinforcing above this percentage, the energy absorption is reduced due to the formation of MWCNT agglomerations. Therefore, this work proposed an optimized doping percentage for CFRP laminates. The maximum improvement of 51.83% in energy absorption was found at 3 wt.% of MWCNT reinforcement in epoxy resins.