Effect of filler material on fatigue and fracture toughness

Abstract

Composite materials are newer class materials which can be tailored to suit the load requirement of any structural member One of the main constituents of any composite material is the epoxy whose properties can be improved by adding additives A number of additives can be added to the polymer matrix and particularly the Multi Walled Carbon Nano Tubes which are organic fillers and synthetic rubber with acryonotrile content otherwise known as Carboxyl Terminated Butadiene Acryonotrile can be added in various percentages to the epoxy resin Bisphenol A was chosen for this research work and to this polymer resin Multi Walled Carbon Nano Tubes and Carboxyl Terminated Butadiene Acryonotrile were dispersed in various percentages The polymer resin was toughened and its response to fatigue loading Mode I Mode II and Mixed Mode loading was assessed