Structural, morphological and mechanical behaviour of glass fibre reinforced epoxy nanoclay composites

Glass reinforced epoxy composites filled with various compositions (1, 3, 5 and 7%) of cloisite clay particles were prepared. The as-prepared samples of unfilled or neat epoxy glass fibre composites and clay particles reinforced composites were tested for their morphological and mechanical properties. The morphological behaviour was investigated by the use of scanning electron microscope for visualizing the distribution of nanoclay in the epoxy matrix. The homogeneity dispersion of the nanoclay is confirmed from the high resolution scanning electron microscope (HR-SEM) analysis. The study on mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural and impact test was carried out test the hardness of the prepared reinforced composites. The mechanical studies were carried out for all the compositions of 1, 3, 5 and 7% of the epoxy matrix composites. For 5% reinforced clay composites, the tensile strength and modulus were found to increase by 23.58 and 23.66% when compared to the unfilled composite. Further increase in nanoclay content decreases the tensile properties of nanocomposite. For the flexural strength and modulus for 5% nanoclay reinforcement, there is an increase of 34.10 and 53.86%, respectively, when compared to the unfilled composite. The impact strength for 5% reinforcement of nanoclay has an increase of about 29.65%, whereas for all the other compositions it showed a decreasing trend. The results of micro hardness, interlaminar sheet strength (ILSS) and compressive strength were discussed in detail for all the compositions under present investigation. The results were discussed in detail for its applications in mechanical applications.