Fatigue Life Behaviour of Nanocomposite Coated Carbon Steel

Abstract Recently, nano-materials have received increasingly more attention for their potential applications as structural and functional materials. The unique mechanical properties of CNTs, their high strength and stiffness and the enormous aspect ratio provide potentials for the improvement of the mechanical properties of structural materials. The aim of this research is to investigate experimentally the effect of nanocom­posite coating on the fatigue life of carbon steel AISI 1045 specimens with different surface finishes. Nanoadhesives of epoxy resin are synthesized and evaluated. They are originally modified by multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) with 0.5 wt.-% as reinforcement. Fatigue tests are conducted on the respective specimens by a rotating bending machine of the cantilever type. Comparing the results for specimens coated with 0.5 wt.-% MWCNT-epoxy composition with the base materials it is found that fatigue life increased five times for a roughness of 0.3 µm and three times for an average specimen roughness of 0.8, 1.6 and 2.5 µm, respectively.