Influence of carbon nanotube on interfacial and mechanical behavior of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy laminated composites

Abstract Reinforcing carbon fiber epoxy composite (CF‐EP) with carbon‐based nano‐fillers offers outstanding mechanical and interfacial properties by strengthening the weak fiber‐matrix interface (delamination) and enhancing the fiber pull‐out strength of neat CF‐EP. In this study, a multiscale CF‐EP laminated composite with CNT modified epoxy matrix has been fabricated by a vacuum‐assisted resin infusion method. Dispersion of 0.3 wt% CNTs into the epoxy are carried out using a probe sonicator. The outcomes indicate that the incorporation of 0.3 wt% CNTs in CF‐EP can improve the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and interlaminar shears strength (ILSS) by 17% and 28%, respectively. Modulus gradient evaluation across the interface revealed the improvement in the stability of the interface with nanofiller addition. Further, energy absorption during delamination is also improved by 26.31% more due to better interfacial bonding offered by nanofillers.