Improved method of manufacturing carbon nanotube infused multifunctional 3D woven composites

Abstract

This research work aimed to develop smart multifunctional composites via a process for uniformly dispersing carbon nanotubes (CNT) on an orthogonal three-dimensional (3D) woven glass fabric with minimised filtering effect. These smart composites could detect strain under tensile and flexural loading by the piezoresistive response of the infused CNT network. Conventional vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding was modified to control the infusion of 0.25 wt% CNT on the 3D woven glass fabric by varying the vacuum pressure. Results showed that at 101.3 kPa vacuum pressure, the CNT percolated through the thickness of the orthogonal 3D woven glass fabric while being marginally filtered by the fibres and were suitable for sensing tensile strain, whereas at 30.4 kPa, the CNT were deposited only on the surface of the fabric preform without getting filtered and were suitable for sensing flexural strain.