EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF CARBON NANOTUBES -ALUMINA HYBRID EPOXY NANOCOMPOSITES

The multi scale hybridization of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with alumina (Al2O3) in epoxy offers a new opportunity to fabricate high performance multifunctional composites. In this study the multifacial hybrid composites consists of MWCNTs and alumina particles were incorporated into pure epoxy with the various weight fraction of 0.5,1.0,1.5,2.0,2.5 Wt% of hybrid nano fillers. The hybrid weight ratio of MWCNTs-Al2O3 is mixed in the ratio of 1: 4. In this study the promising improvements in the tensile strength, micro hardness and impact strength of these composites presence were compared with the pure epoxy. The test specimens of the hybrid composites were fabricated by moulding method at the room temperature. The hierarchical hybrid was observed to exhibit significant improvement of 518MPa of tensile strength, 165H(v) of micro hardness and 80% of impact strength respectively. These hybrid reinforcements are mainly attributed to the improvements of epoxy property resulted from the good dispersion of hybrid fillers. The experimental investigation reveals that the mechanical properties of these new class multifunctional composites are improving with hybrid fillers addition in considerable quantity. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was used to study the possible fracture surface morphology.