Influence of the addition of functionalized MWCNT on mechanical properties on epoxy/carbon fiber and epoxy/carbon-aramid fiber composites

We investigated the effect of the inclusion of carbon nanotubes (CNT) on the mechanical properties and wear behavior of epoxy/carbon and epoxy/carbon-aramid composites in this study. Epoxy/carbon and epoxy/carbon-aramid composites with 0 wt.% CNT and 0.3 wt.% CNT were manufactured by RTM, amino functionalized multi-walled CNT (MWCNT) were used to modify the matrix. Tensile, compression, two rail shear, Charpy impact tests and Pin On Disc (POD) were performed on the four composites. The EP/CAF composites showed better impact resistance than the ones containing carbon woven. The addition of CNTs improves the shear modulus in 5% for EP/CF composites and 6% for EP/CAF. The results also show that the dynamic friction coefficient is independent of the CNT content, and the specific wear rate shows no improvement with the selected test parameters.