Effect of nanoclay addition on vibration properties of glass fibre reinforced vinyl ester composites

This paper presents the experimental study of free vibration and damping characteristics of hybrid nanocomposite laminates by reinforcing short fibre chopped strand mat and organically modified montmorillonite clay (0, 1, 3 and 5 wt.%) in the vinyl ester matrix by hand lay-up technique. Theoretical study is also carried out to study the vibration and damping characteristics of hybrid nanocomposites. Dynamic result shows that the second phase nanoscale dispersion in the matrix and E-glass fibre significantly enhances the internal damping of hybrid composites. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.