Vibration, damping property, tensile and flexural behavior of kevlar- carbon/ epoxy / nanosilica composites

The purpose of this thesis was to study the effect of particle contents of nano-silica on the tensile and flexural properties of interaply hybrid carbon/Kevlar fiber reinforced epoxy matrix (CKFRE) composites. The nano-silica with particle contents of 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2.5 and 3 wt% were used to produce six composite laminates. The specimens and tests were conducted according to ASTM standards. The results showed that the tensile and flexural strengths were increased with the increase of nano-silica content. The highest improvement of flexural strength was obtained at 1.5 wt% content of nano-silica with increment of 35.7%. The vibration and damping properties were also enhanced with the addition of nano-silica. Furthermore, the damping ratio of hybrid composite having nano-silica content of 3 wt% was obtained 18.3% higher than unmodified CKFRE composite. Key Words: Carbon/Kevlar fiber, nano-silica, hybrid composite