Investigation of long-term water absorption behavior of carbon fabric reinforcedepoxy composites containing hydrophobic nanosilica

Abstract

Abstract:The effect of water absorption on the chemical and mechanical properties of hydrophobic ller containingepoxy matrix composites was investigated by keeping them in distilled water for 9 months. Aerosil R812 (8 nm) andAerosil R972 (12 nm) were utilized at 3% and 5% w/w ller to resin ratio and the resin/ ller mixture was combined with12-ply carbon fabric to get 1515 cm samples. Samples were molded under a hot press and for each sample 50 testsamples obtained by cutting them with a water jet. The obtained samples were characterized by TG, FTIR, and SEM.The effect of water absorption was evaluated by measuring percentage water absorption and exural strength of samplesover 9 months. The results revealed that ller addition lowers the damage created by distilled water a considerableamount and addition of hydrophobic llers to epoxy matrix composites can be especially bene cial for applicationswhere long-term water exposure is desired.