Fracture Toughness Studies of Polypropylene- Clay Nanocomposites and Glass Fibre Reinfoerced Polypropylene Composites

In this paper, a comparative study on the fracture toughness of woven glass fibre reinforced polypropylene, chopped glass fibre reinforced polypropylene and nanoclay filled polypropylene composites is presented. Nanoclays (Cloisite 15A) of 1 wt. % to 5 wt. % were filled in polypropylene (PP) matrix and they were subjected to fracture toughness stu-dies. The specimen with 5 wt. % nanoclay showed 1.75 times and 3 times improvement in critical stress intensity factor (KIC) and strain energy release rate (GIC), respectively, over virgin PP. On the other hand, 3 wt. % nanoclay PP composites showed superior crack containment properties. These structural changes of composite specimens were examined using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. It showed that exfoli-ated nanocomposite structures were formed up to 3 wt. % nanoclay, whereas, intercalated nanocomposite structures formed above 3 wt. % nanoclay in the PP matrix. Furthermore, the woven fibre reinforced PP composites demonstrated superior crack resistant properties than that of clay filled nanocomposites and chopped fibre PP composites. However, KIC and GIC values for woven fibre composites were lesser than that of chopped fibre composites. Moreover, KIC and GIC values for both nanoclay filled PP composites and woven fibre composites are comparable even though the clay filled PP demonstrated catastrophic failure. Also, the crack propagation rate of PP-nanoclay composites is comparable to that of chopped fibre composites.

3D Lamellar-Structured Graphene Aerogels for Thermal Interface Composites with High Through-Plane Thermal Conductivity and Fracture Toughness

Although thermally conductive graphene sheets are efficient in enhancing in-plane thermal conductivities of polymers,the resulting nanocomposites usually exhibit low through-plane thermal conductivities,limiting their application as thermal interface materials.Herein,lamellarstructured polyamic acid salt/graphene oxide(PAAS/GO)hybrid aerogels are constructed by bidirectional freezing of PAAS/GO suspension followed by lyophilization.Subsequently,PAAS monomers are polymerized to polyimide(PI),while GO is converted to thermally reduced graphene oxide(RGO)during thermal annealing at 300℃.Final graphitization at 2800℃ converts PI to graphitized carbon with the inductive effect of RGO,and simultaneously,RGO is thermally reduced and healed to high-quality graphene.Consequently,lamellar-structured graphene aerogels with superior through-plane thermal conduction capacity are fabricated for the first time,and its superior through-plane thermal conduction capacity results from its vertically aligned and closely stacked high-quality graphene lamellae.After vacuum-assisted impregnation with epoxy,the resultant epoxy composite with 2.30 vol% of graphene exhibits an outstanding through-plane thermal conductivity of as high as 20.0 W m^−1 K^−1,100 times of that of epoxy,with a record-high specific thermal conductivity enhancement of 4310%.Furthermore,the lamellar-structured graphene aerogel endows epoxy with a high fracture toughness,~1.71 times of that of epoxy.

Computer simulated experiments on fracture toughness of particle-dispersed composites

The fracture behavior of a series of geometrically similar three point bend specimens is simulated by a nonlinear multi zone boundary element computer program. The material is based on Al 2O 3 SiC (p) ceramic in which particles are randomly dispersed in a relatively soft matrix. A single edge main crack and a large number of interfacial microcracks randomly distributed between particles and matrix are prescribed. The load deflection curve and the spread of the fracture process zone (FPZ) are observed with confidence. The computer simulated results show that the fracture toughness of the material increases with increasing specimen dimension and becomes constant when the specimen size exceeds a critical value. A practical specimen size for predicting the true fracture toughness of aggregate materials is proposed.

Hardness, Wear Resistance and Fracture Toughness of Cast Hiduminium/Corundum Particulate Composites

This paper reports some results obtained in an investigation to see how increasing the corundum dispersoid content from 0% to 7% in a matrix of as-cast and wrought hiduminium alloy affects the hardness. wear resistance and fracture toughness of the composite. The results show that as the corundum content is increased, the hardness and the wear resistance increase remarkably,whereas the fracture toughness drops significantly. It was found that Just a minute amount of corundum is sufficient to cause a fairly large change in these mechanical properties. The hardness of the material is also affected signifIcantly by the aging time. Moreover, if other factors are kept constant, hot extrusion improves both its hardness and its wear resistance. whereas the fracture toughness is decreased

Effect of Fillers on Mechanical Properties and Fracture Toughness of Glass Fabric Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Plain weave woven glass fabric reinforced epoxy (G-E) composite filled with two different types of fillers namely graphite, silicon carbide (each 5 and 10 wt%) was fabricated by hand lay-up method and compressed using hot press. These composites were investigated for their static mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural properties and impact strength as well as mode-I fracture toughness as per ASTM standards. Experimental results on mechanical properties indicate that the strength and the modulus in tensile and flexural mode for G-E composite increase with increasing filler loading. The unfilled G-E composite has the tensile strength of 305 MPa and increased to 404.2 MPa for 10 wt% silicon carbide. However, in three-point bend mode, addition of graphite in G-E showed the highest flexural strength as well as modulus. Mode-I fracture toughness test results indicated that the graphite filler loading improved the toughness of G-E composite. Selected failed samples under tensile, bending and mode-I fracture were examined using scanning electron microscope to identify the fracture features.

Toughness and Fracture Mechanism of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites

The fracture toughness of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composite(CFRP)was investigated through mode I and mode II shaped fracture system in this paper.A novel polyimide with trifluoromethyl groups and grafted nanosilica were used to modify epoxy resin.Effect of modified resin and unmodified resin on fracture toughness of CFRP was compared and discussed.Lay-up angles and thicknesses effects on fracture toughness of composites were also investigated.The fracture toughness of CFRP was obtained through double cantilever beam(DCB)and end notched flexure(ENF)tests.The results showed that the composites prepared by modified resin exhibited high fracture toughness compared with unmodified composites.The fracture toughness value of mode I increased from 1.83 kJ/m2 to 4.55 kJ/m2.The fracture toughness value of mode II increased from 2.30 kJ/m2 to 6.47 kJ/m2.

Effects of V and Al on Microstructure and Room Temperature Fracture Toughness of Nb-Si In-situ Composites

The effect of alloying elements V and Al on microstructure and room temperature fracture toughness of an experimental Nb-Si in-situ composite was investigated. The Nb-Si alloys with different amount of V and Al were prepared by non-consumable arc-melting furnace. The experimental results showed that with the addition of V and Al, the microstructure of the Nb-Si materials transformed from Nbss+Nb3Si to Nbss+Nb5Si3 and the lattice parameters of Nbss phase decreased, and the alloying element V promoted the formation of the finer Nbss structure. It was observed that the room temperature fracture toughness was improved by the addition of V and Al, and the optimum room-temperature fracture toughness of the material appeared in the alloy with 2.6at.%V and 3.6at.%Al. The improvement of room temperature fracture toughness may be mainly attributed to the increment of the volume fraction of Nbss phase and the decrement of the silicide phase size.

INFLUENCE OF INTERFACIAL STRENGTH ON THE FRACTURE TOUGHNESS OF GLASS-CERAMIC MATRIX COMPOSITEST

Nine kinds of glass-ceramic matrix composites with different compositions and inter facial strength(L) were prepared. The influence of Ti on the fracture toughness (K1c.) of composites was studied. It was discoved that, for the system no chemical reaction taking place at the interface, K1c. increased proportionallywith ts increasing at the first stage, then decreased when ts reached a certain value. According to this result,a model of relationship between L, thermal mismatch (Δαr) and K1c was built up. If a chemical reaction tookplace and a new phase was formed in the interface, the K1c. of composite was effected by the combination ofrs, chemical bonding, radial inter facial stress and other factors.

Fracture and Tensile Properties of Polyvinyl Alcohol Fiber Reinforced Cementitous Composites

Experiments were carried out to design polyvinyl alcohol （PVA） fiber reinforced cementitous composites （PVA-FRCCs） holding high ductility and energy consumption ability. Besides, the properties of each ingredients in composites, mixing method and technology for fresh mixture were described in detail. Then, the pseudo-strain-hardening （PSH） behavior was investigated in uniaxial tension test. As a result, the maximum ultimate tensile strain can reach 0.7 percent. On the other hand, the single edge notch （SEN） thin sheet specimens were employed to gain the normal tensile load via crack mouth opening displacement （CMOD） curves, which can show obvious PSH behavior. In addition, the curves can be divided into four zones whose fracture toughness calculation methods were discussed. The wedge splitting （WS） test method can be applied to discuss the fracture toughness. Moreover, fracture energy of SEN and WS specimens were both approximately evaluated.

Fabrication and fracture analysis of MoSi_2 matrix composites by mechanical alloying

Four composites, MoSi 2+ZrO 2, MoSi 2+ZrO 2(Y 2O 3), MoSi 2+ZrO 2+SiC and MoSi 2+ZrO 2(Y 2O 3)+SiC are fabricated by mechanical alloying. It is clear that cracks produced on the MoSi 2 matrix composites during hardness testing belong to the Palmquist crack system. The value of highest fracture toughness of MoSi 2+ZrO 2+SiC composite is 7.58?MPa·m 1/2 , which is nearly three times that of monolithic MoSi 2. This can be attributed to well distributed ZrO 2 and SiC particles along the boundaries of very fine MoSi 2 grains.

Influence of Tungsten and Cobalt Contents on the Microstructure Changes and Fracture Behavior of New Carbon-Free Steel-alloy Composites

The ever increasing demand for steel materials that have good combinations between strength and toughness urged all researchers working in the field of material science to find new alloys that can approach that requirement.Unfortunately strength and toughness of materials are always counter acting properties.However,carbon contents in the steel define to a great extent its strength and toughness.In this research an effort is paid to produce steel alloy composites that can give higher strength together with good toughness without alloying with carbon.The mechanism of strengthening in Iron-Cobalt-Tungsten composite alloys with variations in Co and W contents is investigated.The fracture toughness and hardness,are measured for all alloy composites under investigation.The changes in microstructures after heat treatment are emphasized using metallurgical microscopy and SEM-aided with EDX analyzing unit.

Graphene-Enhanced Fracture Resistance of Epoxy Nanocomposites for Structural Applications

The fracture characteristics of graphene nano-platelets(GNP)in epoxy composite under high strain loadings were investigated using impact test at room temperature.The energy required to create a new surface was measured with load cell and the accompanied plain strain fracture toughness was calculated.The investigation covered the effect of the amount of graphene in graphene/epoxy composite material system on the fracture behavior of the material.The results showed that both the manufacturing and experimental procedures developed were excellent to quickly and precisely characterize the response of GNP/epoxy composite to impact loadings.Furthermore,the results showed clear dependencies of the material response on the amount of GNP in epoxy.

Highly Flexible Fabrics/Epoxy Composites with Hybrid Carbon Nanofillers for Absorption-Dominated Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

Epoxy-based nano-composites can be ideal electromagnetic interference(EMI)-shielding materials owing to their lightness,chemical inertness,and mechanical durability.However,poor conductivity and brittleness of the epoxy resin are challenges for fast-growing portable and flexible EMI-shielding applications,such as smart wristband,medical cloth,aerospace,and military equipment.In this study,we explored hybrid nanofillers of single-walled carbon nanotubes(SWCNT)/reduced graphene oxide(rGO)as conductive inks and polyester fabrics(PFs)as a substrate for flexible EMI-shielding composites.The highest electrical conductivity and fracture toughness of the SWCNT/rGO/PF/epoxy composites were 30.2 S m^(−1)and 38.5 MPa m^(1/2),which are~270 and 65%enhancement over those of the composites without SWCNTs,respectively.Excellent mechanical durability was demonstrated by stable electrical conductivity retention during 1000 cycles of bending test.An EMI-shielding effectiveness of~41 dB in the X-band frequency of 8.2-12.4 GHz with a thickness of 0.6 mm was obtained with an EM absorption-dominant behavior over a 0.7 absorption coefficient.These results are attributed to the hierarchical architecture of the macroscale PF skeleton and nanoscale SWCNT/rGO networks,leading to superior EMI-shielding performance.We believe that this approach provides highly flexible and robust EMI-shielding composites for next-generation wearable electronic devices.

Reactive Hot-press Sintering of Al-B_4C Composites at Relative Low Temperature

A new process of reactive hot-press sintering with boron carbide(B4C) and aluminum powders was proposed to overcome difficulties in the sintering of dense B4C ceramic materials.The B4C powder with different content of pure metallic aluminum particle were milled,hot-pressed and sintered at 1600 ℃ for 1 hour.The mechanism of sintering at relative low temperature was analyzed.The phase constitution of the composites was determined.Effects of Al content on the hardness and fracture toughness of the composites were discussed.The results show that thermite reaction procedure in B2O3+Al was the mechanism of sintering at relative low temperature,B4C,Al2O3 and metallic aluminum are the major constituents of the composites.The microhardness of the composites decreases with the increasing of Al content,but the fracture toughness increase obviously.The composite with 5wt% Al content has the best microhardness and fracture toughness in all the composites.

Improving interlaminar fracture toughness of flax fiber/epoxy composites with chopped flax yarn interleaving

In this research, unidirectional flax fabrics reinforced epoxy laminates were intedeaved with randomly oriented chopped flax yarns at various yarn lengths and contents. Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness of the laminates was evaluated via Double Cantilever Beam （DCB） tests. The results showed that Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness increased with the introduction of the chopped yarns. With moderate yarn length and content, the best toughening effect （31% improvement in Mode I inter- laminar fracture toughness） was achieved. It was observed with the aid of Scanning Electronic Microscopy （SEM） that the in- troduction of the chopped yarns resulted in more tortuous in-plane crack propagation paths as well as the ＂trans-layer＂ phe- nomenon and fiber bridging effect of both the unidirectional yams and the chopped yams. These hindered the growth of the crack and led to more energy dissipation during delamination progress. Excessive yam length or content would induce unstable crack propagation and thus weakened the toughening improvement. No remarkable change was found in the tensile properties and the Charpy impact strength for the interleaved laminates, which indicated that this interleaving method was effective on interlaminar toughening without sacrificing the comprehensive mechanical properties of the laminates.

Effects of La_(2)O_(3) addition on microstructure development and physical properties of harder ZTA-CeO_(2) composites with sustainable high fracture toughness

The influence of La_(2)O_(3) inclusion(0-3 wt%) on the micro structure,phase formation and mechanical properties of zirconia toughed alumina(ZTA) added with 5.0 wt% CeO_(2) was investigated.ZTA CeO_(2) composites were sintered at 1600℃ for 4 h.The microstructure,phase formation,density,fracture toughness and hardness properties were characterised through FESEM,Microscopy Image Analysis Software and XRD diffractometer,Archimedes principle and Vickers indentation technique,respectively.The XRD,image processing and FESEM reveal the existence of LaAl_(11)O_(18).The addition of La_(2)O_(3) incites the sintering,microstructure refinement,densification of ZTA-CeO_(2) matrix and phase transformation.Hence,the hardness of ZTA-CeO_(2) ceramics is increased rapidly based on refinement of Al_(2)O_(3) grains,densification of ZTA-CeO_(2) composites and porosity reduction.It is observed that the fracture toughness is enhanced through in situ formation of elongated LaAl_(11)O_(18) grains.The addition of 0.7 wt% La_(2)O_(3) culminated in the achievement of the optimum findings for density(4.41 g/cm^(3)),porosity(0.46%),hardness(1792 HV) and fracture toughness(8.8 MPa·m^(1/2)).Nevertheless,excess La_(2)O_(3) is proven to be detrimental as it displays poor mechanical properties due to the poor compactness of numerous LaAl_(11)O_(18) grains,coarsening of Al_(2)O_(3) grains and decline in density.

High toughness and CMAS resistance of REAlO_(3)/RE_(2)Zr_(2)O_(7)(RE=La,Nd,Sm,Eu,Gd,and Dy)composites with eutectic composition for thermal barrier coatings

Although rare earth zirconates(RE_(2)Zr_(2)O_(7))have garnered attention as viable candidates for thermal barrier coatings(TBCs),they suffer from low fracture toughness and accelerated calcium–magnesium–alumina–silicate(CMAS)melt corrosion at high service temperatures,which impedes their practical application.In this work,we developed a series of REAlO_(3)/RE_(2)Zr_(2)O_(7)(RE=La,Nd,Sm,Eu,Gd,and Dy)composites with a eutectic composition that not only significantly enhanced the fracture toughness by more than 40%relative to that of RE_(2)Zr_(2)O_(7)but also exhibited improved resistance to CMAS corrosion.The increase in toughness arises from multiple mechanisms,such as ferroelastic toughening,fine-grain strengthening,and residual stress toughening,all of which trigger more crack defects and energy consumption.Additionally,the CMAS penetration depth of the REAlO_(3)/RE_(2)Zr_(2)O_(7)composites is approximately 36%lower than that of RE_(2)Zr_(2)O_(7).Al–O constituents in composites can capture CaO,SiO_(2),and MgO in CMAS melts and increase their viscosity,resulting in enhanced CMAS corrosion resistance.The thermophysical properties of the REAlO_(3)/RE_(2)Zr_(2)O_(7)composites were also investigated,and their coefficient of thermal expansion and thermal conductivity are comparable to those of 7–8 wt%Y_(2)O_(3)partially stabilized ZrO2(YSZ),indicating their potential as TBC materials.

Significantly enhancing fracture toughness of epoxy composite with promisingγ-FeOOH@Fe_(2)O_(3)hybrid nanoparticles by magnetic field assistance

The toughening of epoxy resin(EP)and the interlaminar toughening of carbon fiber reinforced composite(CF/EP)laminates have been widely concerned.In this work,the needle-likeγ-FeOOH nanoparticles were prepared by liquid phase deposition-air oxidation method,and then were calcined under different conditions to obtainγ-FeOOH andγ-Fe_(2)O_(3) hybrid nanoparticles(γ-FeOOH@Fe_(2)O_(3)).Effect of calcination condition ofγ-FeOOH@-Fe_(2)O_(3) and magnetic field assistance on fracture toughness(KIC)of EP was systematically investigated.Then the selectedγ-FeOOH@Fe_(2)O_(3) with the best toughening effect were used to improve the mode I interlaminar fracture toughness(GIC)of CF/EP laminate.The resultingγ-FeOOH@Fe_(2)O_(3) have a length of around 1μm,a diameter of around 100 nm and the Ms of 8.99–45.96 emu/g.After calcinated at 250℃ for 1 h,theγ-FeOOH@Fe_(2)O_(3) containing 24 wt%FeOOH and 76 wt%Fe_(2)O_(3) achieved the best toughening effect.Under a magnetic field of 0.09 T,the KIC of theγ-FeOOH@Fe_(2)O_(3)/EP composite(2.45 MPa m^(1/2)) is 81.7%and 66.7%higher than that of neat epoxy and the composite without magnetic field induction,respectively.Furthermore,the GIC of theγ-FeOOH@Fe_(2)O_(3)/CF/EP composite(0.914 kJ/m^(2)) is also significantly increased by 88.8%and 51.8%compared to that of CF/EP and the corresponding composite without magnetic field induction,respectively.

Microstructure and fracture toughness of a TiAl-Nb composite consolidated by spark plasma sintering

A TiAl-Nb composite was prepared by spark plasma sintering （SPS） at 1250 °C and 50 MPa for 5 min from prealloyed TiAl powder and elemental Nb powder in a molar ratio of 9：1 for improving the fracture toughness of TiAl alloy at room temperature. The microstructure, phase constitute, fracture surface and fracture toughness were determined by X-ray diffractometry, electron probe micro-analysis, scanning and transmission electron microscopy and mechanical testing. The results show that the sintered samples mainly consist of γ phase, O phase, niobium solid solution （Nbss） phase and B2 phase. The fracture toughness is as high as 28.7 MPa？m1/2 at room temperature. The ductile Nbss phase plays an important role in absorbing the fracture energy in front of the cracks. Moreover, B2 phase can branch the propagation of the cracks. The microhardness of each phase of the composite was also tested.

INTERLAMINAR FRACTURE TOUGHNESS OF MULTI-DIRECTIONAL LAMINATES

Based on the conventional compliance and area methods, a high precision method named the angle method is presented in this work. The interlaminar fracture toughness is determined by measurement of the load and the bending angle at the loading point without measurement of the crack length, and the improvement of the conventional compliance method is made, which is more precise and can be used to general DCB specimen with unequal flexural stiffness of the cantilevers. The interlaminar fracture toughness in 0/ θ(θ =0°,30°,60°,90°) interfaces of two epoxy composites, one being the carbon fibre reinforced brittle matrix T300/4211, the other the carbon fibre reinforced tough matrix T300/3261, is measured by both compliance and angle methods, and the relationship between fracture toughness and the ply angle θ is obtained. It is found that the interlaminar fracture toughness is correlated with the type of matrix and the ply angles near the crack front.