Nanographene inclusion effect on the mechanical and low velocity impact response of glass/basalt reinforced epoxy hybrid nanocomposites

In the present study, hybrid glass/basalt fiber composites containing nanographene (GnP) were manufactured for investigation of low velocity impact properties at the impact energy of 30 J. Also, their flexural and tensile properties were experimentally characterized. During the experiments, both laminate configurations as basalt and glass at outer and inner skins were treated for impact and mechanical tests. Failure mechanisms were analyzed with taking photographs over the front and rear sides of the samples and SEM observations on the impacted region after the impact tests. Results from this study indicated that incorporation of GnP at 0.1 wt% revealed a significant improvement in impact and mechanical properties indicating the better load transfer between GnP-matrix resin-fiber interactions.