EFFECT OF INTERLEAVED MWCNTS BUCKYPAPER ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF NON-CRIMP CARBON FIBER COMPOSITES

Carbon fiber reinforced with carbon-based nano-fillers is becoming popular for many applications due to its exceptional properties, such as high strength and stiffness. The matrix toughening is another way to improve the interlaminar fracture resistance. Short, micro, and nano-fillers are used for enhancing matrix properties. One of the challenges of using nanomaterials is that they get agglomerated due to the high aspect ratio and strong intermolecular and dipole-dipole interactions. To overcome the agglomeration problem, researchers have used interleaving sheets typically inserted at various locations through the thickness of the laminate. The present work uses 48 layers, symmetrically arranged of Non-Crimp Carbon fibers prepregs which were oven-cured to fabricate the composite laminates, with and without buckypaper at the midplane. Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) buckypapers with 45 gsm were used to fabricate nanoengineered composite laminate. Double cantilever beam (GIC), short beam shear strength, and flexural strength were performed as per ASTM 5528-13, 2344-M16, and 790-15 standards to analyze static and dynamic properties. Buckypaper incorporated laminates showed degraded mechanical properties; to enhance these, the lattice structures formed on the buckypaper and composite laminates were analyzed. The results indicate that the composite laminates fabricated using lattice buckypaper structure had better interlaminar strength than those without lattice grid buckypaper.