Effect of nanoparticles on tensile, impact and fatigue properties of fibre reinforced plastics

Advanced composite, fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP), has been favoured for certain aerospace, military, marine and automotive applications. Polymer nanocomposites containing layered silicates have attracted much attention. These exhibit increased modulus, decreased thermal expansion coefficient, increased solvent resistance and enhanced ionic conductivity when compared to the polymer alone. Here we have developed eight different combinations of composites FRP with nanoclay (montmorillonite) by layered manufacturing techniques (LM) and measured the mechanical properties. The measurement showed that the tensile strength, impact strength and fatigue life are greatly increased. A plausible explanation for high increase of properties has also been discussed.