Swayam Shree, Jitendra S. Tate, Shelby E. Vasconcellos-Murphy, William J. Schneider, Roger Faria, Oluwasola Arigbabowo | International Journal of Composite and Constituent Materials | Vol 11, Issue 01 | pp. 8-20 | ISSN: 2456-5237
Abstract
This study investigates the fatigue behavior of carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy composites modified with nanosilica, core-shell rubber particles, and a hybrid of both additives. Specifically, the composites were formulated with 10 wt% nanosilica, 10 wt% core-shell rubber particles, and a hybrid containing 10 wt% of each additive. The research aimed to assess how these modifications influence the mechanical performance and fatigue resistance of the composites under cyclic loading conditions. The addition of nanosilica and core-shell rubber particles individually enhanced the tensile, flexural, and short beam strengths of the composites when compared to unmodified epoxy-carbon fiber composites. However, the most significant improvements were observed in the hybrid composite containing both nanosilica and core-shell rubber particles. This hybrid composite exhibited superior mechanical performance across all tests, showing an increase in the tensile and flexural strength as well as enhanced resistance to interlaminar shear failure, as measured by short beam testing. In tension-tension fatigue testing, the hybrid composite outperformed all other formulations, demonstrating the highest fatigue life and the least amount of stiffness degradation. This was attributed to the combined effects of the nanosilica, which reinforced the matrix and improved the interfacial bonding, and the core-shell rubber particles, which enhanced the composite’s ability to absorb and dissipate cyclic energy, preventing premature crack initiation and growth. The hybrid composite’s superior fatigue performance highlights the synergy between these two additives, which individually contributes to improving the composite’s resistance to cyclic loading. Stiffness degradation models were developed to quantify the modulus loss over time during fatigue testing. These models were crucial for understanding the composite’s performance under repeated loading and for predicting its longevity in practical applications. The findings suggest that the hybrid composite represents a promising material for structural applications where both high strength and long-term durability under cyclic loading are required.
Keywords:Carbon fiber reinforced composites, core-shell rubber particles, nanosilica, tension-tension fatigue
Keywords
Carbon fiber reinforced composites, nanosilica, core-shell rubber particles
🔒 This is a subscription article
Full text is available to subscribers and institutional members. Please choose an option below to access it.
SubscribePurchase this articleInstitutional / Login accessReferences
- Pascault J, Williams RJ. General concepts about epoxy polymers. In: Pascault J, Williams RJ, editors. Epoxy Polymers, New Materials and Innovations. 1st Weinheim (Germany): Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA; 2010. 1–12p.
- Callister WD. IMSE: Interact Mater Sci Eng. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 2000.
- Makkar U, Rana M, Singh A. Analysis of fatigue behavior of glass/carbon fiber epoxy composite. Int J Res Eng Technol. 2015;4:211–6.
- Callister WD. IMSE: Interact Mater Sci Eng. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 2000.
- Spera DA, editor. Wind Turbine Technology. New York: ASME Press; 1994.
- Kunz–Douglass S, Beaumont P, Ashby M. A model for the toughness of epoxy–rubber particulate composites. J Mater Sci. 1980;15:1109–23.
- Saleh B, Ishak M, Hashim A. Compatibility, mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties of epoxy resin modified with carbonyl–terminated butadiene acrylonitrile copolymer liquid rubber. J Phys Sci. 2009;20:1–12.
- Johnsen B, Kinloch AJ, Mohammed R. Toughening mechanisms of nanoparticle–modified epoxy polymers. Polym J. 2007;48:530–41.
- Balakrishnan S, Start P, Raghavan D. The influence of clay and elastomer concentration on the morphology and fracture energy of preformed acrylic rubber dispersed clay–filled epoxy nanocomposites. Polym J. 2005;46:11255–62.
- Liu HY, Zhang GT, Mai YW. On fracture toughness of nanoparticle–modified epoxy. Composites. 2011;42:2170–5.
- Allaoui A, Bai S, Cheng HM, Bai J. Mechanical and electrical properties of a MWCNT/epoxy composite. Compos Sci Technol. 2002;62:1993–8.
- Rafiee M, Rafiee J, Zhou W, Song H, Zhai Y, Koratkar N. Enhanced mechanical properties of nanocomposites at low graphene content. ACS Nano. 2009;3(12):3884–90.
- Tripathi G, Srivastava D. Effect of carboxyl–terminated poly (butadiene-co–acrylonitrile) (CTBN) concentration on thermal and mechanical properties of binary blends of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol–A (DGEBA) epoxy resin. Mater Sci Eng A. 2007;443(1–2):262–9.
- Keller A, Chong HM, Taylor AC, Dransfeld C, Masania K. Core–shell rubber nanoparticle reinforcement and processing of high toughness fast–curing epoxy composites. Compos Part A Appl Sci Manuf. [n.d.].
- Blackman BRK, Kinloch AJ, Lee JS, Taylor AC, Agarwal R, Schueneman G, et al.The fracture and fatigue behaviour of nano–modified epoxy polymers. Int J Fract. 2007;143:45–58.
- Manjunatha CM, Taylor AC, Kinloch AJ. The tensile fatigue behavior of a GFRP composite with rubber particle–modified epoxy matrix. J Reinf Plast Compos. 2009;29(14):2170–83.
- Zhang J, Deng S, Ye L. Interlaminar fracture toughness and fatigue delamination growth of CF/EP composites with matrices modified by nanosilica and CTBN rubber. In: Proceedings of the 13th Int Conference Fract; Beijing, China; 2013 June 16–21. 1–7p.
- Bolick R. Composite fabrication via the VARTM process (STTR NO64 – 040 – 0400). Triangle Park, NC: Triangle Polymer Technologies, Inc.; [n.d.].
- Tate JS, Kelkar AD, Kelkar VA. Failure analysis of biaxial braided composites under fatigue loading. In: Euro Struct Integr Soc; 2004.
- ASTM International. ASTM D3039/D3039M–17 Standard Test Method for Tensile Properties of Polymer Matrix Composite Materials. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International; 2017. doi:10.1520/D3039_D3039M–17.
- ASTM International. ASTM D7264/D7264M-15 Standard Test Method for Flexural Properties of Polymer Matrix Composite Materials. West Conshohocken, PA; ASTM International; 2015. doi: https://doi–org.libproxy.txstate.edu/10.1520/D7264_D7264M-15
- ASTM International. ASTM D2344/D2344M–16 Standard Test Method for Short–Beam Strength of Polymer Matrix Composite Materials and Their Laminates. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International; 2016. doi:10.1520/D2344_D2344M–16.
- ASTM International. ASTM D3479/D3479M-19 Standard Test Method for Tension–Tension Fatigue of Polymer Matrix Composite Materials. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International; 2019. doi:10.1520/D3479_D3479M-19.
- Tate J, Kelkar A, Whitcomb J. Effect of braid angle on fatigue performance of biaxial braided composites. Int J Fatigue. 2006;28(10):1239–47.
- Reifsnider KL. Fatigue of Composite Materials. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 1991.
- Owen MJ, Dukes R. Failure of glass–reinforced plastics under single and repeated loading. J Strain Anal Eng Des. 1967;2(4):272–9.
- Broutman LJ, Sahu S. Progressive damage of a glass reinforced plastic during fatigue. In: 24th Annual Technical Conference, Reinforced Plastics/Composites Division, SPI; 1969. Paper 11–D.
- Tate JS, Kelkar AD. Stiffness degradation model for biaxial braided composites under fatigue loading. Compos Part B Eng. 2008;39(3):548–55.
How to cite this article
@article{ShreeS2025,
author = {Swayam Shree and Jitendra S. Tate and Shelby E. Vasconcellos-Murphy and William J. Schneider and Roger Faria and Oluwasola Arigbabowo},
title = {Fatigue Performance of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Hybrid Nanocomposites Modified Using Core-Shell Rubber Particles and Nanosilica},
journal = {International Journal of Composite and Constituent Materials},
year = {2025},
volume = {11},
number = {01},
pages = {8--20},
issn = {2456-5237},
url = {https://journalspub.com/publication/ijccm/article=13768}
}