Improvement of mechanical and wear properties of epoxy/glass fiber/Titanium Carbide+Titanium diborides hybrid composites by adding clay nanoparticles

Abstract

In previous work, despite the positive effect of the titanium carbide + titanium diboride (TiC+TiB₂) on the wear, hardness and erosion properties of the epoxy/glass fiber composites, the particles reduced tensile and flexural strength. This research targets to improve the tensile and flexural properties of the epoxy/glass fiber/TiC+TiB₂ composites by adding clay nanoparticles in content of 1, 3, and 5 wt%. The effect of nano-clay content on mechanical (tensile, flexural, and hardness) properties and wear behavior of the hybrid composites was investigated. The field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) images revealed the morphology, the fracture surface and failure mechanisms of the composites. The X-ray diffraction confirmed the formation of TiC+TiB₂ particles and the nanocomposites. Tensile and flexural results showed that introducing clay nanoparticles increases tensile strength and flexural strength by 92% (from 116 to 223 MPa) and 67% (from 194 to 324 MPa), respectively. The nano-clay did not have a significant effect on the tensile and flexural modulus. The hardness increased from 35.1 to 79.4 HRP. Wear properties results revealed that clay nanoparticles improve the wear resistance of the composite samples significantly. The addition of 5 wt% of clay nanoparticles decreased wear rate from 3.7 to 0.4 mg/Nm.