Assessment of nanoclay impact on buckling response of carbon/Kevlar hybrid composites

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of nanoclay (NC) particles on the buckling behavior of carbon/Kevlar intraply hybrid composites. The laminates containing various amounts of NC particles (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, and 3% by weight) were manufactured using hand layup stacking followed by vacuum bag molding process. The prepared samples were subjected to axial and lateral compressive loads under fixed-fixed and fixed-free boundary conditions, respectively, and the relevant critical buckling loads were determined. Furthermore, the failure modes were examined via microscopic views taken from the damaged areas on the samples to fully understand the influences of NC particles on buckling characteristics. The findings demonstrated that the buckling behaviors of the samples were significantly affected by the introduction of NC particles. Compared with the composite samples without any NC particles, the composite samples with 1 wt% NC particles showed an increase of 21.12% and 25.33% in the axial and lateral critical buckling loads, respectively. However, the inclusion of NC particles with an amount that higher than 1 wt% showed a decreasing trend in terms of critical loads for both buckling loadings, which can be viewed as a measure of load-bearing capability. Moreover, the samples filled with 3 wt% NC particles exhibited a decrement on critical loads compared with those of samples without any NC particle filler. With the help of microscopic views, the failure modes were detected as matrix fragmentation and delamination for both buckling loadings.