The cyclic-fatigue behaviour of an epoxy polymer modified with micron-rubber and nano-silica particles

Excerpt

Fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) composites are widely used in ship hull, airframe and wind turbine structural applications where they are subjected to various types of constant and variable amplitude cyclic-fatigue loads. Hence, fatigue-durability is one of the important requirements for such composite materials. These FRPs, generally, contain continuous fibres of carbon or glass reinforced in a thermosetting epoxy-polymer matrix. The epoxy polymers are amorphous and highly cross-linked materials, because of which they have many useful structural properties such as a high modulus and failure strength, good creep resistance, good thermal properties, etc. However, they are relatively brittle and have poor resistance to crack initiation and growth. This, in turn, may adversely affect the overall performance of the FRPs under static and cyclic-fatigue loads. …