Influence of silane surface treated aramid fiber and nanosilica on mechanical, fatigue, fracture toughness, and dynamic mechanical behavior of epoxy composites

This research investigates the fatigue behavior, fracture toughness, and dynamic mechanical properties of surface modified aramid fiber and nano-silica toughened epoxy composites. This analysis focuses on comparing the properties of untreated and silane-treated composite designations, aiming to identify the effects of surface modification on enhancing the mechanical performance of epoxy composites. The surface modified aramid fiber and nano-silica is fabricated with epoxy resin via manual hand layup method and the tests are done. Among the tested specimens, the increasing vol.% of fillers improved the mechanical properties of the composites. In terms of fatigue behavior, N3 specimen, shows 14,122 life counts for untreated and 16,391 life counts for treated specimens. On contrast, silane treated N4 demonstrates excellent dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) with a storage modulus of 4.7 GPa and fracture toughness of 86 MPa. On overall, the surface modified composites show better properties and performance. In addition, the main novelty of the research lies in the investigation of untreated and treated aramid fibers and nano-silica reinforced epoxy composites and utilization of finite element model study on these product-based composites. Further, these composites gain potential applications in industries requiring durable and structurally sound materials, such as aerospace, automotive, and construction.