Upgraded Mechanical Properties of Diluent Nano-filled Glass/Epoxy Composites Fabricated by Vacuum Assisted Resin Infusion

Vacuum Resin Infusion process (VRI) is the most common method for the manufacturing of composite laminates. Unfortunately, VRI has some disadvantages such as incomplete filling of the mold and poor impregnation due to the high viscosity of the nano-polymeric resin. The high viscosity of nano-polymeric resin consumes a lot of time to complete the process. In this study, an attempt was done to decrease the viscosity of the epoxy and nanophase epoxy hence decreasing the processing time. Ethanol was added with small weight fractions (0.5 wt.% and 1 wt.%) to the epoxy resin without evaporation to decrease its viscosity. Moreover, TiO2 nanoparticles with 0.25 wt.% and 0.5 wt.% were added to epoxy resin to produce nano-filled glass fiber/epoxy composites. Two types of glass fiber reinforcements were used which are either chopped or woven glass fabric. The results showed that, as the ethanol percentage increases, the resin viscosity decreases and consequently the processing time. Adding 1 wt.% of ethanol and 0.25 wt.% of TiO2 nanoparticles to epoxy resin slightly increases tensile strength as compared with neat chopped glass fiber/epoxy composites. The tensile strength of woven glass fiber/epoxy and the flexural properties of both woven and chopped glass fiber reinforced epoxy improved significantly with the addition of 0.5 wt.% of ethanol and 0.25 wt.% of TiO2 nanoparticles.