Fabrication, characterization and mechanical testing of carbon fiber sandwich composites with nanoparticle included polyurethane adhesives

Abstract

In honeycomb core and composite face sheet sandwich panels, it is essential to understand the bonding characteristics of adhesive in relevance with its properties to observe synergistic effects of reinforcing nanoparticles such as multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). This study investigates the effects of MWCNT inclusion on polyurethane (PU) adhesive, which directly affects sandwich structures' structural and mechanical performance. MWCNTs are added to PU adhesive up to 0.2%, and their RAMAN spectroscopic analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermo-gravimetric analyses (TGA) and differential-scanning calorimetry analyses (DSC) are evaluated. Aluminum honeycomb carbon-fiber-reinforced composite (CFRC) sandwich panels are fabricated using an out-of-autoclave manufacturing process. Carbon-fiber prepreg is used for top/bottom face sheets. Mechanical strength of face/core bonding evaluated as a function of MWCNT addition and core cell sizes. Manufactured sandwich composite structures are investigated for flat-wise tensile strength and three-point bending strength. Results show that MWCNT reinforcement to PU adhesive and lower cell size increases bending and flat-wise tensile resistances.