This paper examines the effect of surface treatment and filler shape factor on the fracture toughness and elastic modulus of epoxy-based nanocomposite. Two forms of nanofillers, polydopamine-coated montmorillonite clay (D-clay) and polydopamine-coated carbon nanofibres (D-CNF) were investigated. It was found that Young's modulus increases with increasing D-clay and D-CNF loading. However, the f...

We present a novel approach to analyse the fracture of fibre-reinforced composites. Experimental results on mode I fracture of glass fibre and carbon fibre unidirectional laminates presented here and published by others in the open literature formed the basis for the analytical and numerical results presented. When details of the external loading rate are explicitly accounted for, a new picture...

On November 5, 1993, the City of Calgary completed the construction of the first smart prestressed concrete highway bridge built in Canada. A total of six pretensioned girders of a continuous two span skew highway bridge were prestressed using carbon fibre composite cables (CrCC) developed by Tokyo Rope, and Leadline rods produced by Mitsubishi Kasei, Japan. This paper describes the constructio...

Self-healing is receiving an increasing amount of worldwide interest as a method to autonomously address damage in materials. The incorporation of a self-healing capability within fibre-reinforced polymers has been investigated by a number of workers previously. The use of functional repair components stored inside hollow glass fibres (HGF) is one such bioinspired approach being considered. Thi...

The limitation of non-destructive methods for the inspection of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites is a major problem for many practical applications of the material, especially in the aircraft industry. This paper presents a study which is directed towards non-destructive characterization of CFRP using eddy current methods. The relationship between the signal from different type...

The wide range of applications of microwave technology in manufacturing industries has been well documented (NRC, 1994; Thuery, 1992). In this paper, a new way of joining fibre reinforced thermoplastic composites with or without primers is presented. The microwave facility used is also discussed. The effect of power input and cycle time on the heat affected zone (HAZ) is detailed together with ...

(2002) Numerical and experimental studies on the fracture behavior of rubber-toughened epoxy in bulk specimen and laminated composites. ABSTRACT To study the toughening mechanisms of liquid rubber (LR) and core-shell rubber (CSR) in bulk epoxy and composite laminate, experimental and numerical investigations were carried out on compact tension (CT) and double-cantilever-beam (DCB) specimens und...

Failures in composite materials occur mainly due to interlaminar fracture, also called delamination, between laminates. This indicates that characterizing interlaminar fracture toughness is the most effective factor in the fracture of composite materials. This study reports investigation on mixed-mode interlaminar fracture behaviour in woven carbon fibre/polyetherimide (CF/PEI) thermoplastic co...