Mechanical properties of 3D orthogonal glass fiber woven fabric reinforced epoxy resin composites with nano clay modification

In order to study the effect of nano clay modification on the mechanical properties of composites, the 3D orthogonal glass fiber woven fabric reinforced nano clay modification epoxy resin composites were manufactured by vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) process. The bending and tensile properties of the composite modified with different mass fractions (1wt%, 2wt%, 3wt%, 4wt%) of nano clay in 0° and 90° directions were tested respectively. The results show that the composite with the nano clay fraction of 1wt% has the highest bending strength and stiffness. And the bending strength in 0° and 90° directions have been increased by 7.21% and 13.71%, respectively. The bending modulus have been increased by 5.69% and 16.64%, respectively. In addition, the composite modified with 3wt% nano clay has the best tensile properties. For the 0° and 90° directions, the corresponding tensile strength have been increased by 24.96% and 27.93%, respectively. And the tensile modules have been increased by 21.35% and 13.26%, respectively. Due to the contact area increase between fibers and epoxy resin, the interface bonding strength has been increased as nano clay is dispersed in the matrix in a nano scale layered form, the mechanical performance of the composite has been improved significantly.