Buckling compression behaviour of CNT engineered composites

Abstract

Research has shown that Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) have exceptional mechanical properties and show promises as a reinforcement for high performance composites. In this work, CNT was added to Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) composites, and collectively placed under compression tests to determine their buckling behaviour. For a start, CNT was dispersed in ethanol and dried before its transfer to the middle layer of multiple CFRP strips joined together. The resulting specimen was then cured and placed under axial compression, with its buckling loads and respective deflections measured. The conditions were then varied, such as the modification of CNT and CFRP quantities and the use of a curing table over the autoclave. These served to reinforce the results and conclusions. From the data recorded, it was found that the elastic modulus of the composite increased with CNT concentration, indicating that CNT improved the buckling resistance of the composite. However, there is a limit to CNT addition and the optimum concentration was determined to be between 1 and 2g/m2. Future considerations could be made to improve the dispersion of CNT with more active solvents, or utilising more accurate equipments in data acquisition.