Enhancing Fatigue Life of Filament Winding Laminar and Curved Pipes Containing Carbon Nanotubes, and Their Fatigue Failure

Abstract

In this study, the fatigue life of glass fibre-epoxy matrix material produced by the filament winding composite pipes and matrix material reinforced with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) nanocomposite filament winding tubes were studied experimentally under the influence of internal pressure. Glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) pipes which were reinforced with carbon nanotubes were tested in the conditions of an open-ended test. The winding angle of test specimens was ±55° and they had six layers. During all the experiments, the fatigue life effect of reinforced carbon nanotubes was investigated. Unreinforced glass, as a reference material, was compared with reinforced plastic with the addition of nano-reinforced material using two different rates of 0.5% and 1%. Fatigue tests of specimens have been carried out in accordance with ASTM D-2992. Later on, the results obtained by determining the material properties with the reinforcement of carbon nanotubes GRP pipes were evaluated. As a result of this study, it has been found that MWCNTs reinforcement increases the fatigue life of the GRP tubes. Inter-laminar fracture strength was developed via the mechanical locking of MWCNTs. The critical MWCNTs usage value was between 0.5% and 1%.