Effect of CTBN Micro-Rubber Particles on Fatigue Performance of Carbon Reinforced Epoxy Composites

J. S. Tate; Dinesh Kumar Kannabiran Vasudevan; Vasconcellos Murphy Shelby E.; Kunal Kumar; Stephan Sprenger

Abstract

In the automobile industry, composite materials are sought after for their lightweight and superior properties, such as high stiffness, specific strength, and chemical resistance. Epoxy resins, brittle in nature, are used as a matrix system in many composite manufacturing industries and are enhanced by reactive liquid rubbers to increase toughness. In this research, carbon reinforced epoxy composites were manufactured with carboxyl-terminated butadiene-acrylonitrile (CTBN) rubber particles using low-cost vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM). The mechanical characterization was determined through testing under tensile, flexural, and interlaminar shear loadings and compared against a control (0 wt% of rubber particles) composite. Tensile strength slightly increased with the CTBN 10 wt% compared to the control, but all other mechanical properties decreased. Based on the tensile testing results, the CTBN 10 wt% was selected for fatigue studies. Extensive axial tension-tension fatigue testing was performed on the control and CTBN rubber modified composites and used to create an S-N diagram and stiffness degradation model. It was observed that the CTBN 10 wt% modified system showed excellent fatigue life compared to the control composite. Furthermore, the CTBN 10 wt% carbon fiber composites showed significant enhancement compared to the control as seen in the S-N diagram and stiffness degradation curve.

Abstract

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