The Effect of Graphene-Oxide Nanoplatelets on the High-Velocity Impact Response of Glass Laminate Aluminum Reinforced Epoxy

In this paper, the influence of graphene-oxide nanoplatelets (GONPs) on the response of the glass laminate aluminum reinforced epoxy (GLARE) under high-velocity impact loading was investigated. Different weight percentages of nanofillers including 0.25, 0.50 and 1.00 wt % GONPs and a hybrid of 0.25 wt % GONPs and 0.25 wt % multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were used for reinforcing GLAREs. Addition of 0.5 wt % GONPs reduced the residual impactor velocity by 33% and increased the energy absorption capability of GLARE by 22.9%. The SEM micrographs showed reinforced adhesion between the fibers and matrix and the optical microscope images showed improved cohesion in the matrix of the reinforced GLARE. This caused the secondary damage region in the composite layer to decrease considerably. However, GONPs imposed negative effect on the suppression of composite layer delamination and also interfacial strength between the composite and aluminum layers that provided more extensive plastic deformation of aluminum as an important energy absorption mechanism of GLAREs. Furthermore, the composite layers of the unreinforced and reinforced GLAREs were subjected to tensile test and the results showed improvements in the tensile stiffness, strength and toughness by 33.4, 45.0 and 25.6%, respectively, due to adding of 0.5 wt % GONPs to the matrix.