Investigation of the effect of silicon dioxide nanoparticle addition on mechanical properties of carbon and basalt reinforced composites

In composites, the structure and type of reinforcement used to achieve the desired mechanical properties are crucial. The most commonly used reinforcements are woven fabrics made from high-performance fibers. Additionally, the use of nanoparticles in addition to these reinforcements is also available to achieve high performance from the composite. The effect of the nanoparticle used in these changes with the differentiation of woven fabric structure and material has become a subject that needs to be investigated. In this study, plain weave carbon woven fabrics with different fabric areal weights and plain weave basalt woven fabrics with the same fabric areal weights were used as reinforcement fabrics. Silicon dioxide was used as the nanoparticle. Then, composite parts manufactured by the vacuum infusion method were subjected to tensile, three-point flexural, and Izod impact tests. In all experiments, the effect of silicon dioxide nanoparticles was observed to be the best in carbon fabric reinforcements with an areal weight of 200 g. The vacuum infusion method in these fabrics helped to have a more optimal amount of silicon dioxide at the fiber/resin interfaces in the composites. The denser structure of the 245 g carbon fabric and the more porous fabric structure of the 200 g basalt fabric prevented this effect from occurring with the vacuum infusion method. In composites made from carbon fabrics without silicon dioxide, an increase in areal weight has reduced tensile strength while increasing flexural and Izod impact strength. This effect was observed because of the increase in weave density.