Authors: Justin K Stewart Hassan Mahfuz Leif A Carlsson
Publish Date: 2010/03/16
Volume: 45, Issue: 13, Pages: 3490-3496
Abstract
Polyurethane PU foam is reinforced with SiC nanoparticles to develop core materials for sandwich composites Isocyanate component Part A of PU foam was dispersed with SiC nanoparticles and then mixed with polyol Part B to manufacture nanophased core materials Nanoparticle reinforcement varied from 01 to 20 wt of the total polymer Both pristine and silane functionalized SiC nanoparticles were used in the investigation Nanophased foams were tested in compression and flexure to determine the mechanical properties Fracture toughnesses K IC and G IC were determined using the SENB test Sandwich panels were fabricated and tested for facecore debond fracture toughness using the tilted sandwich debond test The study has revealed that reinforcement of the foam by pristine nanoparticles substantially enhances mechanical properties but degrades fracture toughness This loss in fracture toughness however may be recovered with the use of functionalized nanoparticles Small concentrations 01–02 wt of functionalized nanoparticles provided large improvement in debond fracture toughness of sandwich specimens
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