Dynamic characteristics of epoxy hybrid nanocomposites

An experimental study is conducted on epoxy composite, reinforced with nano alumina and Multiwall CNTs (0.5 and 1.0 wt%) in monolithic and hybrid forms to evaluate its stiffness and damping properties. Among monolithic reinforcements, Multiwall CNTs (1.0 wt %) have shown a significant increase in loss modulus, whereas nano alumina (0.5 wt%) has increased the storage modulus of the composite. With hybrid reinforcements, there is further increase in storage modulus (0.5 wt%) observed; however, a slight reduction in loss modulus (1.0 wt%) is noticed in comparison with CNT-reinforced nanocomposite. Based on these experimental observations, a two-layer hybrid composite configuration, consisting of nano alumina (0.5 wt% as layer 1) and Multiwall CNTs (1.0 wt% as layer 2) is fabricated and tested. The obtained results have indicated significant and simultaneous increase in storage and loss modulus, which brings out the importance of using the hybrid reinforcement configurations.