Tensile and compressive strengths of nanofillers modified epoxy adhesives

• Main Author: Ng, Nicodemus Dong Yu.
• Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Aeronautical engineering::Materials of construction
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/46016
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Epoxy resins are widely used in many industries as coatings and adhesives due to their high strength, good adhesion and versatility. Epoxy resins can be formulated to give enhanced performance and other desired properties. Bulk epoxy adhesive specimens modified by varying concentrations of silica nanofillers were fabricated and tested for tensile and compressive properties at different strain rates to investigate the effects of such nanoparticles and strain rates on the mechanical properties of epoxy resins. The results revealed that both tensile strength and strain-to-failure increased after the introduction of the silica nanoparticles but decreased as more nanoparticles were added. The opposite was true for modulus of elasticity in tension. The elastic modulus in compression tests was also shown to improve with increasing concentrations of the nanoparticles. However, the compressive strength remained constant while the yield strain decreased. In the compressive tests, the properties generally improved with increased strain rate. However, the tensile properties seem to be independent of strain rate.