Investigation of long-term water absorption behavior of carbon fabric reinforced epoxy composites containing hydrophobic nanosilica

Authors : Nurten EKİN, Mehmet Galip İÇDUYGU, Ahmet GÜLTEK

Pages : 321-331

View : 13 | Download : 9

Publication Date : 0000-00-00

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :hydrophobic filler containing epoxy matrix composites was investigated by keeping them in distilled water for 9 months. Aerosil R812 insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(8 nm); and Aerosil R972 insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(12 nm); were utilized at 3{\%} and 5{\%} w/w filler to resin ratio and the resin/filler mixture was combined with 12-ply carbon fabric to get 15 $\times $ 15 cm samples. Samples were molded under a hot press and for each sample 50 test samples obtained by cutting them with a water jet. The obtained samples were characterized by TG, FTIR, and SEM. The effect of water absorption was evaluated by measuring percentage water absorption and flexural strength of samples over 9 months. The results revealed that filler addition lowers the damage created by distilled water a considerable amount and addition of hydrophobic fillers to epoxy matrix composites can be especially beneficial for applications where long-term water exposure is desired.
Keywords : Fiber reinforced polymer, composite, water absorption, silica