Fabrication of carbon nano tube reinforced grass fiber composite and investigation of fracture surface of reinforced composites

The fiber composites have been investigated as lightweight structure material platforms for aerospace applications because their strength can be enhanced by adding reinforcement without a significant increase in weight. In this study, the fabrication and characterization of carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced glass fiber composites are demonstrated to enhance the tensile strength of longitudinal direction along the glass fibers. Due to the reinforcement of CNT in epoxy layers, the yield strength of fiber/epoxy composites is enhanced by about 10 %. Furthermore, using scanning electron microscopy, analysis of fracture surfaces shows that mixed CNT in epoxy layers acts as necking agents between fractured surfaces of fiber/epoxy; thereby, initiation and evolution of crack across fiber composite can be suppressed by CNT necking between fractured surfaces.